Dina
1.5 stars
There's very little of value here. I was bored out of my mind for most of the book. The three (!) potential romances were all weak, there is hardly any plot to speak of and the protagonist remains pale and uninteresting until the end. The one saving grace was that there were some cool ideas about magic.
Less funny this time, more terrifying. But the tons of absurd action (fighting the Easter Bunny, anyone?) and the tension between characters make this another great instalment in the Sin du Jour series.
These novellas are perfect to get you out of reading slumps, to lift up your spirits on a bad day, or just for any moment when you want to laugh about how all sorts of monsters are secretly living among us.
I absolutely loved this!
Everything about it. I loved it from the first to the last page.
This started really well but (1) got worse and worse in terms of plot and world building and (2) made no sense whatsoever.
I have never read such bad world building and a book which throws in so many things that don't go together, don't fit, don't make sense. I really liked how it started but it felt like the author didn't want to write anymore at the halfway point and just gave up.
What a waste of reading time...
DNF
That's it. I'm giving up. No matter how long I wait or how much I try to find something to interest me in this book, it's not helping. Just the thought of continuing this book makes me feel bad. It's like work, not fun. I did read almost 60% and at this point, that's all I'm willing to give.
If I can muster up the energy, I'll write a review of what I have read on my blog. But don't count on it.
My full review was posted on SFF Book Review.
Here's the (very much) shorter version:
This is marketed as one of Pratchett's books for young people and while it definitely can be read by children and young adults, I believe it is even more suited to an adult readership. I remember, as a child, I read books for the pure pleasure of story. I didn't care about messages, or the exploration of themes, or even world-building. I watched characters I liked do things that were interesting, and on that level, Nation succeeds. But it is the message that forms the heart of this novel, it is the encouragement to think for yourself, and to go through the world with open eyes and an open mind.
THE GOOD: Wonderful characters who live through a sad but beautiful story. Brilliant exploration of serious themes with just a pinch of Pratchett's trademark humor.
THE BAD: Takes a while to get into, some story elements (the Navy plotline) could have been left out.
BONUS: The filthy-mouthed parrot.
THE VERDICT: Highly recommended to Pratchett lovers or newcomers, to scientists and religious people, to those who have suffered through loss and pain, and those who are simply interested in a good story.
RATING: 9/10 – Beautiful. Close to perfection.
On a re-read, this still doesn't make it above 3 stars. More like 2.5 stars.
It was a nice story, no question, but I never felt like I was truly in it, like I knew Ged or the other characters. I will continue with the Earthsea books after this, but the first one didn't wow me.
Full review over at the SFF Book Review
September is back. And with her, we brave another journey to a very different Fairyland. As we go to the gloomy darkness of Fairyland-Below, we get to enjoy Cat Valente's full packages of beautiful, complex prose, wondrous ideas and whimsy, and beloved characters that I didn't know how much I had missed.
Recommended to anyone who has ever wanted to visit Fairyland, or find out about the mathematics of quests. If you liked the first book, you'll love this one. And if you haven't read any Catherynne M. Valente, do it now.
Here's my full review.
A beautifully written but very unstructured book by an author who is becoming one of my favorites. A lot of editing would have helped but despite my misgivings, I enjoyed it while reading.
As usual, I couldn't wait to dive into another of Thursday Next's adventures. And while Jasper delivers wonderfully quirky ideas, well-written sub-plots and hilarious dialogue, I missed the BookWorld and the literary references. My favorite sub-story is by far the Jenny plot line (awesomesauce!) but other than that I found the ending(s) slightly anti-climactic.
Still, this is Jasper Fforde we're talking about here. So overall, I had a LOT of fun with this book and it comes highly recommended.
Read my full review over at SFF Book Review
Full review at SFF Book Review.
So this is what everybody is going on about.
My first Brandon Sanderson, chosen because it's a nice and short novella, gave me a glimpse of this writer's talent. After reading this, I can't wait to read his longer novels and series. What an intriguing magic system. What a fantastic little story.
If you're like me and you don't dare start with Sanderson's huge, chunky series, I highly recommend this. You can read it in one sitting - in fact, you'll have to, it's impossible to put down - and it shows just how much talent this author has.
I guess this is what happens when you have a tiny nice idea, but no plot, yet feel you HAVE to publish something. Fill it with endless repetitions and illustrations to make it look like a full novel when it's not even got a novella's worth of actual content...
Incredibly overrated. Mediocre writing, bad plotting and pacing. The worst magic system (if you can call it that) ever. This is basically a lame coming-of-age story pretending to belong on the fantasy shelf.
It is very good inspiration to read other (better!) works of sff.
full review at http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/the-guild-vol-2-graphic-novel/
This review can also be found on SFF Book Review.
Why did I read this? I had mostly lukewarm feelings about Shades of Milk and Honey, the first part in this series. But Mary Robinette Kowal is so likable and seems so clever in her interviews and podcasts that I wanted to give her a second chance. If the first novel was – and such a thing is possible, I've learned – too much like Jane Austen and read like all the characters were ripped off, this one has its own voice and mood to it. Unfortunately, it was a mood that bored me almost to death.
GLAMOUR IN GLASS
by Mary Robinette Kowal
Published by: Tor, 2012
ISBN: 1429987286
ebook: 213 pages
Series: Glamourist Histories #2
My rating: 6/10
First sentence: There are few things in this world that can simultaneously delight and dismay in the same manner as a formal dinner party.
Mary Robinette Kowal stunned readers with her charming first novel Shades of Milk and Honey, a loving tribute to the works of Jane Austen in a world where magic is an everyday occurrence. This magic comes in the form of glamour, which allows talented users to form practically any illusion they can imagine. Shades debuted to great acclaim and left readers eagerly awaiting its sequel. Glamour in Glass continues following the lives of beloved main characters Jane and Vincent, with a much deeper vein of drama and intrigue.
In the tumultuous months after Napoleon abdicates his throne, Jane and Vincent go to Belgium for their honeymoon. While there, the deposed emperor escapes his exile in Elba, throwing the continent into turmoil. With no easy way back to England, Jane and Vincent's concerns turn from enjoying their honeymoon...to escaping it. Left with no outward salvation, Jane must persevere over her trying personal circumstances and use her glamour to rescue her husband from prison . . . and hopefully prevent her newly built marriage from getting stranded on the shoals of another country's war.
dividerAfter Shades of Milk and Honey, I was hoping for many things to happen in the second novel. I wished Mary Robinette Kowal would be a little less like Jane Austen (who but Jane Austen can really pull it off, after all?) and more like herself. Check. I was hoping that the characters weren't such obvious copies or amalgamations of Austen's own Elizabeth Bennet or the Dashwood sisters. Check. I was hoping that her magic system, Glamour, would be further developed. Check.
Despite all of these good things that were delivered as per my personal order (or so it seems), there was one element this book was missing. Badly. It was drive, it was that thing that makes you go “wow” and get really immersed in a story. Frequently, the five-year-old that I secretly still am on the inside, wanted to shout out “This is BOOOORING” while I was reading. I shushed her and everything, pointed out the nice writing and the depth of research that must have gone into the novel. But five-year-old me didn't care. She wanted a good story. And that's where Glamour in Glass was truly lacking.
It opens on a dinner scene where Jane, who, with Vincent, has just finished a magnificent glamural commissioned by the Prince Regent, describes the dinner conversations, all the rules of propriety that go with such and the separation of the sexes once the whisky and cigars are brought and the discussions start going in a political direction. This may be very interesting from a historical point of view but it lacks any wit that Jane Austen always provided in her work. And the plot (if you can call it that) meanders along in the same manner until the last quarter of the book, when finally something happens that requires action. I am by no means averse to slow-moving books that focus on characters. But let's take a look at the characters we meet here.
Jane, for the most part, is incredibly sulky and passive throughout the novel. Until said event in the last bit makes her come out of her shell and become pretty awesome. I liked her a great deal in Shades of Milk and Honey, but here I found myself not caring very much about her and actually being annoyed with her a lot of the time. Vincent has lost his brooding mystery and what little we see of him didn't excite me either. This may be entirely my fault or it may be due to the inconsequential conversations the newlyweds have. I don't know. It just didn't grab my attention at all.
What Mary Robinette Kowal does brilliantly is paint a picture of the era. I'm no expert, not even an amateur, in the field, but everything just feels right. The way people behave, the differences between England and France and Belgium, the clothing, the carriages and horse-drawn carts... simply guessing from what I've read in her two Glamourist Histories, I would say, Mary has a firm grip on her research. The afterword gives us a clue of how thorough she has been, creating a list of words with all the words Jane Austen used in her works, and eliminating or rephrasing any words Mary used to fit the vocubulary of 1815.
I was also very happy to learn more about Glamour and see Jane come up with new ways to use it. It is like reading steampunk – you read about inventions that could have been made in the past. Only this is glamourpunk. The scenes where Jane and Vincent work on their theory and try to put it into practice were the first ones that got me really hooked and that offer a myriad possibilities for future novels in the series.
What did I think? In the end, the story left me rather cold. The fact that I didn't particularly like Jane or Vincent for most of the book is surely a large factor in this. The lack of a driving force behind the plot made this, to say it in my five-year-old self's words, simply boring. I need something to want to read on, be it characters, action, magic or world-building. None of these things were interesting enough to hold my interest. I am somewhat surprised to see this on the Nebula shortlist and I have the strong suspicion that, like with the Hugos, sometimes authors just make it onto that list because they are very present. Or because “it's kind of their time to get an award”. Mary is a great writer, no doubt, and has a firm grip on her research and craft. But for this second Glamourist History the elevator pitch “Jane Austen with magic” does not work anymore. There may be magic in the shape of Glamour, but there is none of Austen's wit or clever critique, there are none of her ridiculously funny characters. And so, for me, there wasn't really much magic at all.
The Good: Well-researched, with perfect French (that made me squee a lot) and an ending that redeems some of the earlier problems I had.
The Bad: Three quarters of the story were painfully boring, except for one scene involving Glamour. Lacks the Austenesque humor and fun characters.
The Verdict: Slow burning historical piece with threads of magic woven into it.
My Rating: 6/10 – Okay
The Glamourist Histories:
Shades of Milk and Honey
Glamour in Glass
Without a Summer
It may have been on purpose to demonstrate how meta John Scalzi can be, but personally, I don't see the point in reading (or writing!) a bad book with the most cardboardy characters imaginable. The codas were okay but the main story was just rubbish. And rubbish on purpose is still rubbish.
Read my full review over at SFF Book Review
Gaaaaah, I loved this. I mean, LOVED it!
All my gushing fangirly thoughts can be found here
