Review of 'The Sacred Land (Hellenistic Seafaring Adventure)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
4.25 A good deal fresher than the last volume with - finally - some character development in the two cousins Menedemos and Sostratos. The journey over land in Phoenicia and Iudeaa makes for a nice change of pacing too and the closer encounters with Antigonos' soldiers and logistics are fun to read as well as the asides about famous kitharists, conceited scholars and tight-fisted merchants. The volume also shows nicely how the Mediterranean trade networks tied in with routes further afield, sometimes even a lot further afield. Still could use a little more tension, but then these are traders and not soldiers.
Review of "The Gryphon's Skull (Hellenistic Seafaring Adventure)" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
4.0 A really solid historical novel with a weird, but believable eponymous twist. It is not quite as great as it's predecessor since there are quite a few situations and exchanges that are very much like it the first book. Turtledove fans will know what I mean. Though there are also a lot more different situations and the series manages to keep the reader's interest by introducing some of the movers and shakers of the era while also adding more danger that was largely absent from the first volume.
The lack of interactions with female characters gets a little worse, even though Turtledove does his very best to a add some variety like the shrewd hetaira and Sostratos' sister who really needs to marry again. It's not exactly unrealistic for the time period and the two cousin's occupation - still, there could be some more.
4.5 Not the very best book in the series, but pretty damn close. While the savvy reader might worry at times that the story will devolve in one or the other stereotypical ways, Aaronovitch makes sure it never does. Most characters are very engaging, the mystery is neither obvious nor completely obscure and the resolution is satisfying without making all the problems disappear. Indeed, there are a lot of threads left dangling, but again without the feeling that things weren't resolved.
The main criticism I have is that we're again coming back to Britain's great moments in the backstory - a weakness the series shares with Doctor Who - but in contrast to that show, Aaronovitch knows you can't let the few good things in the past overwhelm the bad in past and present.
Also a nice continuum of lesbian visibility and one handicapped and one trans character too. I'll …
4.5 Not the very best book in the series, but pretty damn close. While the savvy reader might worry at times that the story will devolve in one or the other stereotypical ways, Aaronovitch makes sure it never does. Most characters are very engaging, the mystery is neither obvious nor completely obscure and the resolution is satisfying without making all the problems disappear. Indeed, there are a lot of threads left dangling, but again without the feeling that things weren't resolved.
The main criticism I have is that we're again coming back to Britain's great moments in the backstory - a weakness the series shares with Doctor Who - but in contrast to that show, Aaronovitch knows you can't let the few good things in the past overwhelm the bad in past and present.
Also a nice continuum of lesbian visibility and one handicapped and one trans character too. I'll take Peter Grant's London with its non-racist goblin markets over Diagon Alley every day.
A fast paced, humorous YA fantasy. Cimorene, now Queen of the Enchanted Forest, her friend …
Review of 'Calling on Dragons' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
3.25 Unfortunately this was quite the letdown from the rest of the series so far. The story is a bit jumbled and builds mostly towards the not-quite-cliffhanger that serves as the setup for the next book. Morwen's point-of-view is interesting in parts, especially her talking to her cats, but remains ultimately a little bland. Where the previous volume had really interesting titbits in its picaresque there are few that stand out in this one and most of the characters feel quite flat.
I really wanted to like it, but if this had been the first volume, I wouldn't have continued the series. It's not bad at all, but after the rest it felt quite unsatisfying.
4.25 A solid historical everyday novel of a roadtrip by sea following a pair of Hellenistic far traders and their galley crew through the Mediterranean. Menedemos and Sostratos are cousins who complement each other on the trading side, the character side and the POV side. The year is well-chosen and makes their encounters - or in some cases near brushes - with recorded history. The story is at times a little crude where Menedemos is concerned, but the balancing viewpoint of Sostratos is never far. At first it seems like an exclusively male Greek upper-class focus - hardly surprising given the separate spheres of unmarried men and women at the time - but Turtledove manages to include some female perspectives (although not as POV) and the main characters are both more reflective than most. In the end, we even a short perspective on disability. Hardly exceptional for modern sensibility, but …
4.25 A solid historical everyday novel of a roadtrip by sea following a pair of Hellenistic far traders and their galley crew through the Mediterranean. Menedemos and Sostratos are cousins who complement each other on the trading side, the character side and the POV side. The year is well-chosen and makes their encounters - or in some cases near brushes - with recorded history. The story is at times a little crude where Menedemos is concerned, but the balancing viewpoint of Sostratos is never far. At first it seems like an exclusively male Greek upper-class focus - hardly surprising given the separate spheres of unmarried men and women at the time - but Turtledove manages to include some female perspectives (although not as POV) and the main characters are both more reflective than most. In the end, we even a short perspective on disability. Hardly exceptional for modern sensibility, but nicely done for the early 2000s.
Be warned though, this is neither a thriller, nor a romance, nor a Bildungsroman (though the latter probably comes closest). There are wide stretches where nothing so much is happening. It only seems hectic by comparison if you read Turtledove's "House of Daniel" right beforehand. What really sells the novel are the small things the author uses to make a long-bygone age come to life with believable characters and quirky customs. If the next volume has a tad more in the plot department, I'd certainly go for five stars. As it is, it falls only a little short of that.
Princess Cimorene enlists the help of Mendanbar, King of the Enchanted Forest, to join her …
Review of 'Searching for Dragons' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
4.25 Still a lovely book, even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of its predecessor. It's more of a picaresque than a social comedy and the romance subplot feels a bit tagged on (at least it's not love at first sight and keeps mostly out of the way). Also the resolution leaves a lot of questions open. Well, I've got the next volume right here...
Review of 'Future of Another Timeline' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
3.75 - a quarter more for literary quality, a quarter less for actual enjoyment.
This was quite a disturbing read - not so much because of the murders, but for the almost familiar arguments the Comstockers use to convince women in the beginning. Things get a little less believable over the course of the book, but then we're seeing some extreme time-line manipulation at work.
Among the novel's strengths are the depiction of the geological time machines. I've rarely seens such an evocative method of time travel, down to the rhythmic rock tapping. It's sad that the actual mechanics seem a little muddled - though notably less than in some other TT plots. Still, I wasn't sure how the taking along people seemed to work sometimes and sometimes it didn't.
The 19th century collective action plot amongst the exotic dancers of the Chicago World's Fair was also very well written, …
3.75 - a quarter more for literary quality, a quarter less for actual enjoyment.
This was quite a disturbing read - not so much because of the murders, but for the almost familiar arguments the Comstockers use to convince women in the beginning. Things get a little less believable over the course of the book, but then we're seeing some extreme time-line manipulation at work.
Among the novel's strengths are the depiction of the geological time machines. I've rarely seens such an evocative method of time travel, down to the rhythmic rock tapping. It's sad that the actual mechanics seem a little muddled - though notably less than in some other TT plots. Still, I wasn't sure how the taking along people seemed to work sometimes and sometimes it didn't.
The 19th century collective action plot amongst the exotic dancers of the Chicago World's Fair was also very well written, interesting and enlightening. I also really liked the split storyline with the younger self, which was still hauntingly disturbing, but not quite as much as the "I don't remember a timeline where abortion was legal" of the main plot.
All in all, I enjoyed it in the end. Be warned that there are some pretty harsh plot twists in there. I hated some of those in other authors' work, but Annalee Newitz manages to tread the very fine line between horror and disgust without crossing it. Some people won't like the authors' more extreme historical divergences (like early votes for women catapulting Harriet Tubman to the Senate), but I agree with them - it all has to be seen on the background of timeline manipulations and there were already factors and movements in place that had a small chance to make early women's suffrage possible.
As a parting shot: The book acts as a very nice rebuttal to the Great Men school of historical thought.
Review of 'The Mislaid Magician: or Ten Years After (Cecelia and Kate, #3)' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
4.75 Nigh-perfect regency epistolary mystery novel. Some of the characters could be a tad more interesting, but even where two or three edge into stereotype, they still remain original if not completely round. The mystery is quite compelling - even more so than the one in the last volume - and the shennanigans children and adults (and dogs) get in are funny and entertaining. I think going back to actual letter-writing has improved this volume compared to the last. The B plot (or is that the C plot?) is a little obvious after a while, but it doesn't distract from the interesting juxtaposition of magic and steam.
Review of 'Across the Great Barrier' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
3.25 The story is still interesting, but the character interplay is a little weaker with a somewhat limited cast. At least the twin brother gets more billing, but I fear for both of the two obvious resolutions of the blessed chilled/cursed child storyline. I'm still holding out some hope for at least a comment on why there are no indigenous humans in the Americas - there was at least a nod about over-simplification of the non-white magical traditions - but I wouldn't bet on it. Note for long-time Wrede readers: There's thankfully little romance and no marriage in this one, but the stepping stones for a volume three marriage are there of course.
In 1817, two English cousins take a honeymoon "Grand Tour of the Continent" with their …
Review of 'The Grand Tour, or, The purloined coronation regalia' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
4.5 Not quite epistolary this one and - surpisingly - I enjoyed the style a bit less, because of that. The story is more subtantial though, the characters' voice are more distinct and the resolution less facile. Still you probably won't read for amazing plot twists, but for the atmosphere and the characters - oh, and shiny, sparkly cover!
Review of 'Die Mumins - Eine drollige Gesellschaft' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
5.0 Ein Klassiker. Allein die Szene mit dem Versteck im Hut ist mir durch die Jahrzehnte als eine der gruseligsten Szenen in einem Kinderbuch in Erinnerung geblieben. Der Rest ist zwar manchmal ein wenig picaresk, aber immer sehr schön in Szene gesetzt. Die feministischen und nonkonformistischen Akzente sind zwar eher Untertöne, werden aber einigen älteren Kindern nicht verborgen bleiben. Die Charaktere blühen hier viel stärker auf als im letzten Band und werden deutlich runder.
Review of 'Sorcery And Cecelia Or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot Being The Correspondence Of Two Young Ladies Of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals In London And The Country' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
4.25 If you want your Regency novels with more magic than Temeraire and fewer fey/mythical mages than Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, then this might be the book for you. I can't say I ever enjoyed an epistolary novel quite as much - and I almost can't believe it originated from a letter game. The one big drawback it had the quite predictable romance sub-plot. It was also a little hard to separate the voices at times, which is strange since they were written by different people. The characters come across as distinct though.
Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning …
Review of "A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
4.0 A nice little narrative with engaging characters that avoids hero worshipping. It's a little predictable with the character deaths and the worldbuilding is quite basic, except for the magic, but overall it's very enjoyable. The main thing that annoyed me is the disparity between the city descriotions in the first and second half. First it's all canals and open waterways, then it seems like a traditional kind of city with a big wall all around. Nothing that couldn't be fixed with a couple of sentences, but I really wanted to see some difficulties with transporting the "baked goods" to the gates.
3.25 Not a very enjoyable read, but then what did I except from a book with this title? It's complex and interesting enough and we even revisit a couple of characters from Halting State. Thankfully it doesn't dive all in to the most sordid and nauseating things it mentions, but the mentions are enough for me not reading any more Stross for a while. Not a bad take on the cyber-thriller, just not my cup of tea. Quarter bonus point for independent Scotland.
It’s wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler’s inn is always quiet during this season, …
Review of 'Greenglass House' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
4.5 Atmospheric and non-obvious middle-grade mystery story that is respectful of its adorable and quirky characters and also features role-playing in an interesting and non-standard way. Highly recommended, even though the time period feels like a mishmash between the 1920ies, 1960ies and 2000s.
