REVIEW: Across the Wall by Garth Nix

 

Across the Wall is a collection of short stories by Garth Nix, author of The Old Kingdom series (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen). While I don't usually do short stories - I find the lack of long term character and plot investment challenging and unrewarding - I really loved The Old Kingdom series and as this book purportedly contained an Abhorsen tale, I decided to give it a go.

First of all it took me ages to buy this book because I had purchased the new edition covers of the trilogy and in Australia, they did not sell the new edition of Across the Wall. www.bookdepository.com.uk was able to remedy this.

I have to say I really, really enjoyed every short story in this book. All were instantly and completely engaging and gave enough information for me to instantly connect with the story and characters but withheld information in a way that provoked healthy curiosity. Most of the stories had potential to become a novel unto themselves, while the rest felt complete as short anecdotes similar to a fairytale.

Reading Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case brought back a lot of memories from Sabriel and also reminded me that I have pretty much forgotten them entirely. I would really like to read them again, but that's unlikely to happen any time soon.

My favourite story was Under the Lake, which was a different take on the Arthurian character of the Lady of the Lake. Nix was able to take a classic character and give it a fantastical spin, hinting at ancient peoples and magics previously unknown. He shows the other, darker side of the character (much like Elphaba in Gregory Macguire's Wicked) which highlights that what we knew before was just what had seemed to be the truth. All this and more in just a few short pages.

Quite a relatively short book but I am very glad I read it - would recommend to anyone who wants to try short stories!

In lieu of the release of Inheritance I think I am just going to knock of another shorter book from my list - The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (which funnily enough is book two of the Inheritance trilogy) as I spotted book three in Dymocks the other day.

PS ... I saw The Sending by Isobelle Carmody in Target the other day and almost wept. I have been waiting for that bitch to finish the series since I was FREAKING TWELVE! Although this is still only the penultimate book, it's still a pretty big step. And even thought it was on sale my partner refused to allow me to buy it because of the fact that I still have thirty odd books to read. He obviously doesn't understand how this works.

REVIEW: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

This is the second time I have read Brisingr (this time in preparation for Inheritance, released Nov 9) and I found my response to it this time quite interesting after having read so much more since the first read. All of the books I have read this year have been quite long and what I consider more of an 'adult' read (Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, Jean M. Auel) and it strikes me now how much simpler the Inheritance series are in comparison. I guess the series is considered more of a 'teen-fiction', or at least that's the basket I would put it in.

While I still enjoyed the book immensely and couldn't put the book down this morning until I finished it, at times the simplicity of the story became a little annoying. Eragon is a strange character and one I found hard to reconcile with. This is further compounded for me after reading about Kvothe in the KingKiller series who is so gifted and extraordinarily powerful. In comparison Eragon should be as such, but instead is a little bit immature and daft. To be honest, while this very well may be in the spirit of good writing (Eragon is still only very young and inexperienced and his flaws show as much), he does make a lot of mistakes.

Also in comparison, I kind of felt that not much actually happens in the book. There's a battle, a short trip to Farthen Dur, another trip to Ellesmera and then another quick battle (punctuated by some other chapters from the POV of other characters) and then the end. I don't think this detracts, after all a quick read is a good read (I totally just stole that saying from a completely different context).

Speaking of Patrick Rothfuss' series ... I found a lot of similarities in Brisingr and am wondering if he was a fan too. Elements such as the use of true names are quite common in fantasy so this can be excused, but at one point the narrative mentions a 'Tinker' which I didn't know was common and Eragon suggests that he calls his sword Kingkiller. Hmmm ...

I still cried at the end of the book this time around, as I remember doing this first time. When a book can do that, it really is quite amazing. Here I am, all fine, then there is this one line that is so heart-wrenching and so saddening that I literally sobbed involuntarily and then had a few tears. Hats off to you Christopher Paolini.

So now I am hotly anticipating Inheritance and the end of the series. I am a little annoyed I read Brisingr so fast, as I wanted it to line up with the release date. Ho hum. So in the two weeks I have I think I will read Elantris and/or Across the Wall. I've decided to not start any more series until I have bought all of them/all of them have been released. This re-reading business is too time consuming. Plus not to mention all the series I have started and not finished!

On a final note ... I noticed that Brisingr has a very flexible cover and spine! While I lamented every inevitable spine-crease during The Wise Man's Fear, after two reads, Brisingr has not one crease ANYWHERE and it has been bashed around a bit and constantly laid open on tables. Why don't they make all books like this?

UPDATE: To Be Read ...

Thought I would take a picture (or three, it wouldn't fit into one) of my To Be Read list, which is down to an all time low of 33. I have made a pledge to read these books before I go crazy buying more, although there are a couple that I will probably only read if I'm desperate. For instance, I have no real desire to read Ian Irvine's Human Rites trilogy - I only read half of the first book and it was too fictionny for me.

In other news, I decided not to reread Eragon and Eldest ... after reading the first page it all came flooding back - not to mention that Brisingr included a very handy synopsis, just what I needed!

REVIEW: The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

I think I read this in record time (11 days) ... but this can mainly be attributed to my lack of classes at the moment. I've been finishing at 12 everyday and coming home to read the afternoon away.

I don't really want to say much about The Wise Man's Fear ... having read it back to back with The Name of the Wind I don't remember much distinction between the two and they have melded into one. Still an amazing and engaging read. I really enjoy novels that are lengthy but continue to move at a pace that never feels slow and laboured and Rothfuss really succeeded at this.

I did get a little impatient for two reasons ... Firstly because present day Kvothe is known as The King Killer, one who has spoken with Gods etc etc, and I feel like there will come a point in the story where he will become truly amazing and accomplish truly great deeds, rather than incidental ones ... and I want it to hurry up and get there. Then again, I also have a strong feeling that none of these things actually happen and are just a product of his growing reputation and gossip, such as the 'dragon' of Trebon. Then in the end we find out that Kvothe is not really what he is cracked up to be after expecting some grand, magical quest which has left him a battered and broken middle-aged man. Which would definitely be an interesting twist, but I would still feel kind of robbed.

Secondly, it annoys me that Kvothe can leave things unfinished. The whole time he spent with Maer Alveron I was thinking, 'but when are you going to get back to the University?'. Then when hunting bandits and spending time in Ademre I was becoming impatient as to when he would return to the Maer to resolve that matter. Although still a realistic story-line, I found the non-linear fashion annoying. Plus, the training in Ademre was a little half arsed.

All in all, an incredible story ... but ... I don't know, it didn't have the magic I have felt from my favourite books. I didn't feel like an empty shell when it ended, I didn't have to trawl through the final chapters at 3am in the morning ... there just wasn't a fire to it. Book three, The Doors of Stone has no release date yet, but I'm not on the edge of my seat in anticipation.

With the upcoming release of Inheritance I have decided to reread Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr instead of starting Fallen as I had intended. I might have to leave off Inheritance for a few weeks and then I can take it on holiday with me to Hamilton Island ... but then again, if I do that, all I will do is read instead of sipping martinis on the beach.

REVIEW: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I just finished The Name of the Wind about three minutes ago, just three hours shy of the end of my twelve-hour shift at work ... and now I am wondering how I will make it to 7:30 without dying of boredom and without starting The Wise Man's Fear.

The Name of the Wind tells the story of Kvothe, who we learn has become one of the most infamous arcanists the world has seen in recent times. Set in a world rich with history, most of which has been lost to legend, myth and hearsay, Kvothe, now in hiding, retells his story from his childhood as a traveling performer to his teenage years as one of the brightest at the University.

While this book is a monster to carry around, it was deceptively short, especially in comparison to the Earth's Children novels. I'm not sure whether this was because of the faster pace and higher level of conflict, or whether I just had more time and read it faster. Nevertheless, The Name of the Wind was incredibly engaging and one I couldn't put down. I have in fact been reading it without break since 7am this morning - simultaneously neglecting my duties at work.

From the onset, the archetype of the bright yet disadvantaged boy that is the protagonist Kvothe really appealed to me. While I also appreciated his many flaws which balance out his incredible talents, at times his decisions were a little hard to reconcile. There are time in any story where as the reader we think, "No, don't do that!" but there were several times during TNotW where I could not see the reasoning behind Kvothe's decisions, such as suddenly leaving to investigate the slaughter in Trebon, pawning all his possessions to do so. A very minor criticism I guess, but one that also highlights how well I thought of the novel.

The history and magic system were quite interesting and introduced in an organic way which I really appreciated, and bore some resemblance to that of The Way of Kings, although described much less in depth. I was still a little confused about the principles of bindings by the end of the book as I felt the concise explanation given at the very beginning didn't stick with me.

TNotW was one of those stories that are set in a fantasy world but that concern themselves essentially with humanity and the very relate-able, human problems they face. I have to say I am a fan of these ... much like Llian and Karan from Ian Irvine's The View from the Mirror series, the protagonist is constantly down-trodden and struggling under the weight of responsibility, poverty, bad hygiene and a supernatural beast that wants to kill them. They are obviously extraordinarily gifted, but this comes at a high price.

I appreciated how the story remained mysterious about certain plot elements without becoming frustrating - the nature and history of Bast and his relationship to Kvothe for instance, I felt content to wait to discover. Foreshadowing was handled with subtlety and care and was predominantly dealt by the structure of the narrative, essentially a story within a story; the circumstances of the present day Kvothe retelling his life's story hint at what is yet to be told.

All in all a very satisfying read and one of the best books I've read this year. The one thing holding is back from making my favourites list is that is was not quite as gripping/exciting as some other series,  although I think this may be remedied in the sequels as the story heats up!

REVIEW: The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel

This novel, the fifth in the Earth's Children series, was a definite step-up from its two predecessors in my opinion. Auel spent the majority of the last novel, The Plains of Passage, describing foliage at length and throwing gratuitous sex scenes at the reader faster than a death eater throwing jinxes. I found The Shelters of Stone was more similar to The Clan of the Cave Bear in that through Ayla, the reader is able to discover and explore a entirely different race of people and their way of life. Although not as interesting at the Clan, the Zelandonii had to be an improvement on the grass and sex.

One part that made this book more enjoyable was the coming together of events that had been set-up and foreshadowed since book two. We have been hearing about Jondalar's family and people, his planned mating to Ayla and their potential negative response to her Clan heritage for some time and it all comes to fruition in this book. It was these elements that saved The Shelters of Stone from the lack of any kind of antagonist or conflict as with most of her books. Of course there were some members of the Zelandonii community that created problems for Ayla and Jondalar, but these were quite superficial and were set up in such a way that they seemed forced and obvious.

The first two thirds were a slow read for me, simply due to being busy, but I read the last third in two days, mostly because of my anally retentive nature. I went home to Tasmania this morning and didn't want to lug the book over just to read the last 50 pages, especially because I also took The Name of the Wind AKA the biggest book I own.

After spending the better part of this year reading the Earth's Children series, I am now anticipating the end. It's not that I didn't enjoy them, but they didn't have the same intensity as other fantasy novels I've read, such as those by Ian Irvine, Brandon Sanderson and Brent Weeks. I'll probably read a few others before The Land of Painted Caves because I have to wait until the paperback comes out before I'll buy it. Curse you hardbacks!

I've managed to cut down on the book buying in the last two weeks, but it took some effort. My partner even refused to stop at a Dirt Cheap Books we drove past, even though I was screaming at him to pull over. I tried to complain to my friends but they sided with him.

NEW BOOKS: New Purchases

So I ended up back at AllBooks4Less (where everything is $5) and after scouring the entire store I found some goodies!

• The Thief-Taker's Apprentice by Stephen Deas (did not even know this was out)
• The Terminator Gene by Ian Irvine (didn't really enjoy The Last Albatross but I thought I would complete the series)
• Lost and Mirror Mirror by Gregory McGuire
• House of Chains by Steven Erikson (slowly starting to buy this series in dribs and drabs)

I also forgot to mention that a couple of weeks ago I won a competition on Ian Irvine's facebook page and he sent me the Well of Echoes quartet, all personally signed. The series that I own has two trade paperbacks and two mass-market paperbacks which has always annoyed me, and now the set I won is all mass-market. But I also feel attached to my old set and am not sure what to do with them ...

I officially need to get a new bookshelf as there are now books piled on the floor in front of the shelf ...

REVIEW: The Order of the Scales by Stephen Deas

Firstly, I don't think I am a fan of books that continue to flippantly kill off the protagonists. It seems that by the end of every novel by Deas, all the characters who told part of the story end up being killed. But not in any kind of satisfying way ... in The Order of the Scales, one of the protagonists from the beginning of the series managed to die without even having the honour of it actually being communicated to the reader. We pretty much find out when some other character happens across his body. In one way it's kind of interesting, because it's genuine and realistic, but then again it also sends everything that has been invested in that character straight down the gurgler.

tOotS (Toots, haha!) really is a fast and ruthless read. I decided that I wanted the series to be much longer and fleshed out. There is so much potential for parts of the story that were left untold to be written and I don't think it would be to the detriment of the novel. For instance, all of Jehal's past including the demise of his family, Jaslyn's relationship with Silence, the PoV from Zafir and Valmeyan ... all were kind of missing from this book. On the other hand, I did appreciated the maturity of this approach, not spelling everything out for the reader.

The ending was a little dissatisfying, especially since I was under the impression that this was a trilogy. The Black Mausoleum which is the next novel was kind of branded as a sequel rather than a continuance of the same set. Nothing was really resolved, a few key characters were killed and then it just ended, with some serious foreshadowing.

Keeping track of the names of the Kings and Queens was a little hard as it has been a while since I read the previous two books, especially in the absence of the lineage chart from this book ... and I'm the kind of person who likes to know all the names, how they're related and what kingdom they're from!

All in all, very happy with the story ... quite rich and complex but still fast moving at the same time and a good balance of action and character development.

In a moment of weakness I bought The Wise Man's Fear which I have to say is one of the more beautiful books I have purchased. Next read ... The Shelters of Stone, mostly because I feel obligated to finish it. Really want to get onto The Name of the Wind but I am aware of the upcoming releases by Christopher Paolini and Isobelle Carmody for which I will need to reread both series ... and I will be hard pressed to resist reading them immediately as they are both the long awaited conclusions of the series!

The Wishlist

[Updated 17.03.2012]

With me buying books willy nilly, I decided it was time to construct the ultimate wishlist and only buy things on this list ... titles in blue are those not currently released here.

Isobelle Carmody
-The Red Queen

Ian Irvine
-Rebellion
-Justice

Cinda Williams Chima
-The Crimson Crown

Stephen Deas
-The Black Mausoleum

Kristin Cashore
-Bitterblue

Tom Lloyd
-The Stormcaller
-The Grave Thief
-The Dusk Watchman


Jennifer Fallon
-Dark Divide
-Reunion

Steven Erikson
-Memories of Ice
-House of Chains
-Midnight Tides
-The Bonehunters
-Reaper's Gale
-Toll of the Hounds
-The Crippled God

J.R.R. Tolkien
-The Book of Lost Tales 1
-The Lays of Beleriand
-The Shaping of Middle-earth
-The Lost Road and Other Writings
-The Return of the Shadow
-The Treason of Isengard
-The War of the Ring
-Sauron Defeated
-Morgoth's Ring
-The War of the Jewels
-The Peoples of Middle-earth
-Roverandom
-The Children of Hurin
-Tales from the Perilous Realm

Terry Pratchett
-Guards! Guards!
-Eric
-Moving Pictures
-Reaper Man
-Witches Abroad
-Small Gods
-Lords and Ladies
-Men at Arms
-Soul Music
-Interesting Times
-Maskerade
-Feet of Clay
-Hogfather
-Jingo
-The Last Continent
-Carpe Jugulum
-The Fifth Elephant
-The Truth
-Thief of Time
-The Last Hero
-The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
-Night Watch
-The Wee Free Men
-Monstrous Regiment
-A Hat Full of Sky
-Going Postal
-Thud!
-Wintersmith
-Making Money
-Unseen Academicals
-I Shall Wear Midnight
-Snuff

Robert Jordan
-The Eye of the World
-The Great Hunt
-The Dragon Reborn
-The Shadow Rising
-The Fires of Heaven
-Lord of Chaos
-A Crown of Swords
-The Path of Daggers
-Winter's Heart
-Crossroads of Twilight
-Knife of Dreams
-The Gathering Storm
-Towers of Midnight
-A Memory of Light

Wow ... that's a lot! In other news, I discovered a book story in the DFO today where EVERY book is $5!! Turns out they have a website where this is also the case ... www.allbooks4less.com.au. I'm assuming it's all the run off from book store closures. I bought Naamah's Curse and Treason Keep. In order to keep the all the same size, I also bought the trade print of Namaah's Kiss from somewhere in the UK.

Order of the Scales is going very well ... I don't want it to end!

REVIEW: The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel

This book was a long time in the reading because of my development and special study at Uni, so it ended up being a 15 minutes before bed affair. The last quarter was a hard-to-put-down read and so I read most of it this week.

As predicated, it featured exorbitant amounts of environmental description and sexual encounters which rarely strayed from the same repetitive formula. For the first two thirds of the book I think it's safe to say that NOTHING happens except maybe Ayla fell over once or something ... I really enjoyed the encounter with Attaroa, if only the rest of the book was like that! This was the first ever book that I skimmed (several pages at a time mind you). At least Auel structured it so it was east to skip pasted the 15 paragraphs on the 74 types of grass growing in the area.

In spite of this I am looking forward to the next book, although I worry that it was be very similar to The Mammoth Hunters and the meeting of every other tribe from The Plains of Passage. You could pretty much just change the names and you're reading the same scenario.

I bought the new release The Order of the Scales, the last in the trilogy by Stephen Deas, so I think I will read that before The Shelters of Stone. I also preordered Inheritance (WEEE!!!) and got the coolest hard cover book about the world of Algaesia for free. It has things you can scratch and rub and little things that pop out. Speaking of, I am going to have to reread all of that series (for the third time) before the last book comes out because I don't remember anything. AND IN EVEN MORE IMPORTANT NEWS!!! The last books from the Obernewtyn series are FINALLY being released. It seems there are two which are coming out at the same time which is strange ... The Sending and The Red Queen. It is safe to say that they day these come out I will be holing myself up in seclusion until they are done. Actually, I will have to reread all of those too ...

At the moment, my to read list is ordered as such:

The Order of the Scales - Stephen Deas
The Shelters of Stone - Jean M. Auel
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (possibly followed by Wise Man's Fear)
The Black Prism - Brent Weeks
The Novice and The High Lord - Trudi Canavan

This of course doesn't take into consideration the release of Inheritance and required pre-re-readings or the release of The Gray Wolf Throne and its ambiguous publishing date ... or the release of a paperback of The Land of the Painted Caves.