Category: Books

A good sequel to Ariel, introducing several interesting characters. The story centers around Fred and Yan, a couple of teenage boys with a flair for magic.

The setting is post-change, but 40 years after the change, not 10. The world has eased into an understanding of the new rules. The huge depopulation was better explained, and the world continued developing along interesting lines. Our hero, Fred, is on the verge of a huge breakthrough…

It’s a good story– a solid setting, a likeable hero, a villain who is crazy but not too crazy… plus interesting family relationships and more.

The Thousandfold Thought is the third book in the Prince of Nothing series by Scott Bakker. I thought it would be the concluding book in the series, but the ending is left open. The book’s a solid advancement of the series; we get to meet papa Moënghus, find out that he’s been behind everything– but that doesn’t sour it all.

The book does a good job of bringing several threads to an end. It looks like he left the world alone for several years (real time and in the world) before beginning a sequel trilogy last year. The first book is The Judging Eye, which I may check out.

A lot of short snippets– random lists of facts, two page articles on a lot of interesting topics, longer articles on vaudville and other quirky topics. There’s a lot of readers digest like articles– strange laws, stupid burglaries, accidental discoveries– plus odd facts about toilets and sewers to fit the overall theme.

It was fun, entirely light– and entirely forgettable. There’s very little I retained– well, remembering freeform. Perhaps, if something specific came up in conversation, I might remember something more, but I don’t consider most of it added to my stock of knowledge. (Other than the extended series on the Mayflower, which was particularly interesting.)

A fascinating take on myth, grounded firmly in historical Greece. The world is alien but dimly familiar; the encircled and separated world of women, the grim brooding of a father who still blames his daughter for the loss of his wife in her birth, sisters and rivalries, and the terror of getting shipped off to an entirely new world to join her husband that she knew for only an afternoon previously.

Her decision to intercede on her husband’s behalf is surprising– it doesn’t come from an excess of love the way you’d imagine. Her time in the underworld is bold, deeply marking– and annoying, given how she’s treated. Passion comes in the least likely place– and returning to the world above is a sacrifice, not liberation.

The men are alien and distant, separated by her status and the difference between the reader’s and the characters’ mores. It’s a fascinating look that encourages me to dig deeper into Greek literature.

The book was written by Stieg Larsson, but it thrives because of its tranlation by Reg Keeland. Honestly, the writing was completely transparent: I’d have thought of it as written well informed English if I didn’t know better.

I picked this up in Toronto on my way back, and was very pleasantly surprised by the writing, plot, and characters. They all have real and significant foibles– even the good guys have serious problems and can be their own worst enemy.

Given the title, I was surprised by the amount of screen time that was devoted to Mikael Blomkvist, but it was a good choice. Lisbeth Salander is interesting– in many ways she’s like a WoD character with a lot of points in flaws used to buy some exceptional traits. She’s not a superhero, but she’s very good at what she does.

Sweden turns out to have a few skeletons, at least in this telling. In many ways it’s a police procedural (well, anchored by an investigative journalist instead of a policeman, and the case is quite old…) but it has a lot of differences. The unusual to my experience setting is wonderfully revealed: the differences are small and typical assumptions are mostly right, but they build as the book continues.

In the end, I enjoyed the book thoroughly and will be requesting the next ones from the library.