CVG Book – Llamafodder

I just completed this fantastical book set in the late 18th century. It’s well written, an interesting portrait of a character that’s hard to like, though sympathy for him is possible.

Basically, it’s a story of an unwanted kid who has an incredible sense of smell and a disturbing lack of odor. He exists, occasionally acting, frequently justifying long asides about other characters and locations– kind of a stream of consciousness world building interwoven in a sparse story.

The main character tries to get along (usually, until late in the book he starts planning and executing his murders), but fate intervenes, slapping him down. Usually with an illness. Then he moves on to a new phase of his life (apprenticeship, etc.) and the author kills off whoever his last caretaker or boss was, in a completely random way.

In the end it was interesting– a bit of a stretch from my normal reading. Like many period authors (or mystery writers), he spends time talking about a hobby/profession in detail– perfume making in this book. It’s interesting and well done– Grenouille learns about beside us and the info-dump on the process is well done.

Vigilant, by James Alan Gardner, is a solid book in the Expendables universe. While it’s not the strongest book, it does have enjoyable mysteries and plotting, and a solid viewpoint character (Faye).

Men of Iron, by Howard Pyle is about a fictional struggle in early 15th century England. The book does a good job of hewing to the viewpoints of the era; unlike most of today’s fantasy, the characters have viewpoints appropriate to the era. Despite stilted speech and some interesting authorial choices as to which parts of the story he’d tell, it was a good read. (Discussion about it will start up soon in CVGamer’s bookcase.)

Ursula LeGuin’s Gifts is a good book, and a strong start on a series. It’s in the Young Adult section, but is as interesting and complex as most of her stories. The tale of Orrec and Gry growing up as landholder’s children in a fantastic Scotland analogue is light on action and long on solid, believable thought.