ARC Review: Whip Smart

Synopsis: It is 1842, London, and the gorgeous, ever-capricious twenty-two-year-old Eliza Gilbert, (a.k.a. Lola Montez) is in deep trouble and seeks escape from a divorce trial. Desperate, Lola accepts an alluring offer of a paid trip to Spain, provided she fulfill a few clandestine tasks for Juan de Grimaldi—a Spanish theatre impresario who is also a government agent and spy for the exiled Spanish queen.

Lola soon finds herself in Madrid, undercover as a performer in a musical play. But when she falls dangerously in love with the target, General Diego de Léon—the “perfect Spanish soldier, lover and horseman”—Lola becomes a double agent and the two hatch a plot of their own. Disaster strikes when the plot is exposed and Lola is forced to flee on horseback to France, with a dangerous group of Loyalists in hot pursuit. Will Lola’s reckless daring, feminine wiles, and signature whip be enough to save her life, her lover and her cause?  She will have to be more whip smart than ever before.

Written with zest and a passionate, fiery fervor by debut author Kit Brennan, Whip Smart irresistibly whisks readers into a vivid journey through 19th Century France, England and Spain, riding sidesaddle with Eliza Gilbert, the young, hot-headed Irish girl destined to transform into Dona Maria Dolores de Porris y Montez—a.k.a. Lola Montez, The Sensation of Europe!

Astor + Blue Editions is proud to present, Whip Smart: Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards (ISBN: 978-1-938231-47-6; Trade Paperback; Romance, Historical, Women’s Fiction; US $14.95 CAN $14.95; February, 2013), the rollicking first installment of a new series by debut author, Kit Brennan.  The Whip Smart series begins during the historic week that marks the actual birthdate of Lola Montez. (February 17)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kit Brennan is a nationally produced, award-winning playwright, and teaches writing and storytelling at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.

The Victorian era and its personalities have always been of major interest to Brennan. Her play Tiger’s Heart explores the life of Dr. James Barry, who was actually a woman living a double life disguised as a man in order to practice medicine, which was not an option open to women at the time.

Kit divides her time between the vibrant city of Montreal and the quiet lake wilderness of Ontario alongside her husband, Andrew, and a variety of animal friends.  Whip Smart: Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards is her debut novel.

Visit her online at www.kitbrennan.com.

My Take:  This is an interesting premise.  Kit Brennan bases her novel on the real life of Eliza Gilbert alias Lola Montez).  It takes a year of Eliza's life that isn't really covered in the biographies or materials she left behind and imagines what the lovely, adventurous young woman might have been up to.  I found the historical period and the descriptions of Spanish royalty very interesting.  I can't say that I ever really warmed up to Eliza.  I didn't find her to be as "whip smart" as advertised.  I do think this will appeal to those who like a bit of the bodice ripper meets historical novel with a bit of adventure and danger thrown in.  Three stars for a decent read. 

[Disclaimer: This book was made available to me as an advanced reader copy. My review policy is posted on my blog, but just to reiterate...The review copy was offered to me for impartial review and I have received no payment of any kind. All comments are entirely my own honest opinion.]

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a bookish meme hosted by Book Journey. It's where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It's a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list. So hop on over via the link above and join in...and leave a comment here so I can check out what you are reading.

 

Yikes!  Three books behind according to GoodReads!

Books Read (click on titles for review): 

The Cavalier's Cup by Carter Dickson
Corpses at Indian Stones by Philip Wylie 
Whip Smart: Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards by Kit Brennan  (review coming soon)
 Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood

 

  

Currently Reading: 

Man in the Empty Suit by Sean Ferrell: Wearying of endless visits to the myriad points of human history, a time traveler attends his own one-hundredth birthday celebration every year with other versions of himself and encounters in his thirty-ninth year his murdered forty-year-old body, a situation that compels him to prevent his own death.     

   

Books that spark my interest:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline [I need to put a hold on this one and get it in from the library so I can get it moved onto the "Currently Reading" list]

The Desert Moon Mystery by Kay Cleaver Strahan

Unnatural Habits: Review

I do love Miss Phryne Fisher of the Kerry Greenwood mysteries.  There are some series that become stale or too formulaic as they go on, but Greenwood manages to keep the surprises coming and the interest piqued....even at entry #19: Unnatural Habits.  This particular outing puts a little bit darker spin on the adventures of the grownup's Nancy Drew.

Phryne finds herself drawn into the world of "bad girls" and white slaving when a spate of disappearances occurs that involves everyone from fallen women who are pregnant out of wedlock to young blonde daughters of some of Australia's middle class to a reckless, self-important girl reporter who hasn't the sense to smell danger even when it reeks like Limburger cheese. After rescuing said reporter from being beaten by the minions of certain people unhappy about her nosiness, Phryne discovers that Polly Kettle (reporter) is looking for a scoop on the missing girls.  When Polly herself goes missing, Phryne and her household are on the job--going from horrid "laying-in" homes for the unfortunate pregnant to behind the scenes at a convent laundry to an exclusive "gentleman's club."  By the time it is all over, Phryne has to restrain herself from permanently removing a few priests from the church and indulges in a little high-seas piracy to save the girls from a fate worst than death.  And she does it all with her usual elegance, sharp wit, and courage--even when outnumbered twenty to one.

The Phryne Fisher stories are always good for a quick, adventurous read.  Full of details of 1920s Australia and lots of interesting action.  The mystery plots may not be terribly intricate, but that's really not what I'm looking for when I pick up a Miss Fisher mystery.  I want Miss Fisher doing some on the ground detective work, putting the bad guys in their place, being brave and feisty, using her wits and leaving the awestruck in her path.  She may be larger than life and a tad too perfect at everything--but what is an escape novel for, if not for that?  Kerry Greenwood has struck a wonderful balance with her 1920s super-heroine and I, for one, hope that Phryne goes on for another 19 adventures or more.  Four stars.

Friday Memes

Book Beginnings on Friday is a bookish meme now sponsored by Rose City Reader (who originally inspired the meme). Here's what you do: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments section. Include the title and author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you are so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line and if you did or did not like that sentence. Link up each week at Gilion's place.

Here's the first line from Whip Smart: Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards by Kit Brennan:

"Tell us in your own words." The small, elegantly dressed man speaks. The Cockney pulls up a chair and seats himself after a quick glance at the other man. Obviously the dandy is the one in charge.

The Friday 56 is a bookish meme sponsored by Freda's Voice. It is really easy to participate. Just grab a book, any book, and turn to page 56. Find a sentence that grabs you and post it.

 

Here's mine from Whip Smart: Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards by Kit Brennan:

It made me feel naked and vulnerable, as if that eye knew all my innermost weaknesses and fears.

Corpses at Indian Stones: Review

I have to start this review with a big Thank You to my good friend John over at Pretty Sinister Books. John reviewed Corpses at Indian Stones by Philip Wylie two years ago (almost to the day). When I expressed my delight with his review and the book, John was kind enough to send me a copy as soon as he came across one. For you see, Indian Stones falls into my loosely defined academic mystery sub-genre, and I knew that I just needed to find and read it.

I had no idea that Philip Wylie had written a mystery.  I knew him from my youthful science fiction binge. I had read his book The Disappearance--in which on a normal day in February life here on earth is suddenly divided into two parallel universes, one all male and one all female. I had also read the two novels he co-authored with Edwin Balmer, When Worlds Collide and After Worlds Collide which told the story of what happens before and after Earth is devastated when rogue planets enter the solar system.  I remember liking these books and particularly enjoying Wylie's takes on gender roles and how the men and women cope in their respective timelines without the opposite sex.  I looked about for a while for other books by Wylie, but never found any (and promptly forgot him when I went off to college).

Thanks to John, I have now been able to sample this delightful novel starring Agamemnon ("Aggie") Telemachus Plum--professor of anthropology, archaeologist, and hobbyist in vertebrate paleontology....and crack amateur detective. Aggie is very deceptive-looking.  Everyone looks at him and sees the stereotypical professor-type: stoop-shouldered, smallish man who probably isn't any good in a fight.  But they forget that Aggie doesn't just sit around in the ivory tower with his dusty books.  This is a man who goes into the wild to dig up bones and study societies in darkest Africa--and he has the gorilla bite scars to prove it.

Aggie, who is naturally anti-social, goes (against his better judgement) with his Aunt Sarah Plum to Indian Stones, a summer resort that his aunt visits annually. His aunt who is a matchmaker of sorts has ideas of hooking Aggie up with one of the young women who also frequent the lakeside summer spot, but all Aggie wants to do is hide out with his books and "read and rest and meditate...[he] intends to write a monograph on the subject of preglacial animal migration over the Aleutian Islands."  But it would seem that neither of them will get their wish.

Upon reaching the resort, Aggie finds a calling card from a Mr. Hank Bogarty stuck to the door with a rather large hunting knife.  Aunt Sarah immediately falls prey to a late case of the mumps and the next day Aggie stumbles over the body of Jim Calder who has been crushed to death in bear trap made with logs.  Even though there are plenty of folks who would have liked to see Calder dead, the local folks (including a home-town boy made State Trooper) all seem determined that it was an accident.  But Aggie's none too sure.  What about the fox with a collar and the bite on the dead man's hand?  What about how difficult it would have been to jar the trap loose accidentally?  What about all the people with motives who don't seem to have alibis?

Then Dr. Davis, one of the prime suspects if we do have a case of murder, is found dead with Bogarty's hunting knife in his chest.  Davis is grasping the knife and is in a locked garage where he develops pictures and x-ray plates.  It has all the hallmarks of suicide, but again Aggie isn't convinced.  Added to the mix is a stash of hidden gold, some broken wires, mysterious knife marks on an old, gnarled "climbing tree," a wine cellar, and a bottle of hock sitting where it shouldn't be. By the end of the tale, Aggie proves that not only can he think (as all professors should be able to), but he's also a man of action--providing a nifty rescue in the final chapters.

This is a lovely vintage mystery.  I enjoyed the closed the community of Indian Stones and the way the resort locals come to look at Aggie differently and even respect him.  At only 142 pages, this seems like it would be a lightweight mystery, but there is a lot to like and a nice solution to the locked room puzzle. I enjoyed the banter between Aggie and his aunt and the way she manages to get her nephew to do her "snooping" for her.  Initially, she just wants all the gossip (which she can't get for herself, being confined to bed with the mumps), but soon Aggie is going full-tilt into an amateur investigation of the deaths.  Four stars.

Please be sure to go visit John's far more detailed review at Pretty Sinister Books.

Challenges Met: 150 Plus Reading Challenge, Off the Shelf, Vintage Mystery Challenge (#20 Murder is Academic), Outdo Yourself, Mount TBR Challenge, Book Bingo, Off the Shelf, A-Z Book Challenge 2012, Mystery & Crime Challenge, Embarrassment of Riches, A-Z Mystery Author

Quotes:
It dawned upon everybody that Aggie, at perhaps a hundred and sixty pounds and five feet nine and a half, was, as Beth later said, "dynamite in the physical culture department." (p. 50)

I don't like people--much. This kind, I mean. And they don't like me at all, as a rule. Maybe the latter explains the former. ~Aggie Plum (p. 53)

Nothing more logical than for a fusty pedagogue to rush fifteen hundred miles across the continent, kill a man he'd forgotten existed--kill him ingeniously, not to say miraculously, in a log trap--and then hang around the premises like the proverbial criminal who can't resist the landscape of his crime. ~Aggie Plum (p. 55)

I must have seen the glint of metal--or the curve of leather. So I thought of dog. Anyway, I remember he had a collar. Then he turned, and I saw it was a fox, and I erased the collar from my mind. Foxes don't have collars. Because I became convinced it was a fox, I assumed I'd been mistaken about the collar. That's how people think, Wes. At least--such loopy processes are what pass for thinking among us. ~Aggie Plum (p. 63)

I can't ask you not to repeat what I'm going to tell you, Aggie, because it isn't that kind of information--and this is not a time when innocent people can be required to keep secrets. ~Sarah Plum (p. 72)

Booking Through Thursday: Influence

This week, BTT asks: "Do other people influence what you choose to read? When a family member recommends something, or a friend says they hated a book you were planning to read...does it affect your reading choices?"

Image Credit

Honestly....mostly not.  There are a few friends in the real world who I talk books with and occasionally I take their suggestions to read a book.  I've rarely not read a book that was already on the TBR stack simply because somebody else hated it.  The people with the most influence on my reading habits are out here in the blogging world.  I've read more books in the last few years that fellow bloggers have mentioned in their reviews than I have books recommended by people I know live and in person.  Probably because I mostly follow blogs with similar tastes to mine and so I'm often seeing books (mostly mysteries) that John at Sinister Books or the Puzzle Doctor at In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel or Yvette at In So Many Words have read and loved and so I immediately add them to the already much-too-long TBR list.  

But overall--I have a TBR list of my own that's miles long and I pretty much stick with what I want to read, when I want to read it.

***Addendum: Shame on me for forgetting Ryan at Wordsmithonia...without Ryan I wouldn't have discovered a love for Mary Roberts Rinehart.  And I wouldn't have about 15 of her books sitting on my TBR mountain range.....
 

Top Ten Tuesday: And Now for Bookish Moment

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, brought to us by the Broke and the Bookish, requires us to list ten of our top bookish moments. Hmmm.  Top Ten most influential?  Most inspiring?  Most "wow" moment?  Well...here's some of each then:

1. Where It All Began: with Mom and Dad and Grandma and Aunt Helen all reading to me.  No specific moments...just all of the times I climbed into a lap with a book and someone read to me.

2. The Dawn of My Love of Mysteries: When my mom passed on her original set of Nancy Drew books...a present from her mom to her.

3. The Loss and Finding of Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?: One week in kindergarten I took my all-time favorite Dr. Seuss book to school for show-and-tell.  Mrs. Nix asked if we could keep it there for story hour the next week.  Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? disappeared and I was not a happy little kindergartner (nor was my mama a happy mama).  Several years later when my mom was taking care of the elementary school library, she found my Dr. Seuss book....with my name in it and a school library card & pocket.  It came home.

4. My First Library Card:  At the Wabash Carnegie Library--orange library card with metal piece that went ka-chunk when the librarian ran it through the machine with my check-out slip.  I was extraordinarily pleased with myself when I had my own card and could take home whatever books I wanted to.

5. The Discovery of Mason's Rare & Used Bookstore: Once upon a time, in the small town of Wabash, there was the world's best used bookstore--owned and operated by the world's most awesome bookman, Mr. John Mason.  The first time I remember going in his store was during Canal Days in Wabash--a weekend of sidewalk sales and food stands and entertainment.  I dragged my mom in there (not quite literally), discovered he had Nancy Drew books that I hadn't read yet and knew this was the place for me.  Once I was old enough, I used to walk downtown every Friday with my allowance money expressly to hand it over to Mr. Mason in exchange for those wonderful objects, books.

6. Spying the Star Trek Book Set at Walden's in Marion:  Getting the Star Trek gift set (first five Pocket Book ST novels) for Christmas when I was 12 not only started my love affair with the Classic Trek series--it also jump-started my 10-15 year science fiction adventure.  The Star Trek books led me to such classic SF writers as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Silverberg, Robert A Heinlein,Harlan Ellison, James Tiptree, Jr. (who's a woman, btw), Ursula K. LeGuin, and Pamela Sargent.
 
7. Discovering Dorothy L Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey: I was a mystery-aholic from the time my mom gave Nancy Drew until the Star Trek novels hit (not that I gave up mysteries, but my focus changed).  I read Nancy and the Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden and then jumped to Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot and the Alfred Hitchcock mystery collections.  It wasn't until I had been on my SF kick for a good while that found Lord Peter...and fell in love with mysteries all over again.  And I haven't really looked back since.  I'll read other things....I always have.  But if I have to choose a genre and stick with it for the rest of my life--give me mysteries.

8. The Re-Discovery of Mason's: About the time I left for college, Mr. Mason sold his Wabash store to some of his employees (now it's known as The Reading Room) and headed east to open a store in Pennsylvania--he said he always thought that some of the oldest books never made it to the Midwest.  After several years out east, he decided to return to Indiana and opened a Mason's Rare & Used near Indianapolis.  I stumbled upon his listing while doing an online search for used bookstores--and immediately told my husband a trip was in order.  The first time I walked in, even though it was a totally different building--more retail store than nook and cranny used store--I knew I was in Mason's.  And I kept going back until he finally closed the shop for good and retired.  My mom (and other family members) taught me to love reading. Mr. Mason taught me to love vintage books.

9. Reading Dr. Seuss with My Son When He Was Small: Nothing compares to having your child snuggle up in your lap and reading to them for the first or the hundred and first time.  I tried to get him to love Mr. Brown as much as I did--but he had his own mind.  For him, the best was The Foot Book (hands down, LOL).

10. And the Biggest Bookish "Wow" Moment....has got to be the mind-boggling moment that I had last February when I opened up one of my favorite books after answering a Top Ten Tuesday question.  Please indulge me and check out Bev's Believe It or Not.

Teaser Tuesdays

MizB of Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesdays. Anyone can play along. Just do the following:

*Grab your current read.*Open to a random page.
*Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.

*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! You don't want to ruin the book for others.

*Share the title and author too, so other TT participants can add it to their TBR lists if they like your teaser.

Here's mine from Corpses at Indian Stones by Philip Wylie (p. 12):

"It [a card with a name on it] was pinned to the door frame with a knife. A mean-looking knife"

"A knife, sir?"

"Yeah. I left the knife outside. Didn't want to alarm Sarah. It was biggish. Sort of--threatening."

The Cavalier's Cup: Review

I discovered something while reading Carter Dickson's The Cavalier's Cup.  I discovered what was missing from The Case of the Blind Barber (written under the author's real name John Dickson Carr)--Sir Henry Merrivale.  Merrivale is a marvelous, larger-than-life, almost farcical character who would have been down-right perfect as a passenger on board the Queen Victoria and taking part in the shenanigans that take place in Blind Barber.  That would have worked so much better than having a member of the shipboard group come to Dr. Gideon Fell and tell the story later.

As a fellow GoodReads reviewer has pointed out, Merrivale is very like Mr. Toad of The Wind & the Willows--going full-tilt into various hobbies.  In this outing, Merrivale has buried himself in the country and taken up singing.  He's hired himself an Italian (a very stereo-typical Italian, mama mia!) singing instructor to help him prepare for his grand debut at the Tuesday Evening Ladies' Church Society.  He doesn't want anything to come between him and his singing.  So, when Inspector Masters comes calling with Lady Brace to try and get him to investigate the mysterious doings in the Oak Room at Lord & Lady Brace's estate...well, burn me, he just doesn't want to do it.  But, Sir Henry doesn't seem to be able to resist a pretty lady....or an intriguing tale...and when he's told that the mystery isn't a case of who stole the Cavalier's Cup and why BUT who didn't steal it and why, the Old Man is hooked.

What has happened is this: Lord Brace's family has an heirloom Cavalier's Cup that relates to a family legend.  The Cup isn't normally at home--it usually resides at the bank, but circumstances have brought it the estate for a short period of time.  There are a spate of convenient burglaries in the neighborhood which make Lord Brace nervous about the Cup.  So, he locks the Cup in a safe and locks himself in with the safe in a room that no one should be able to get into--double-bolted door (only door in) and windows with special locks that slide a metal bolt all the way through the frame.  Nobody's going to get that Cup....and Lord Brace will stay awake all night to be sure.  Except...he doesn't.  He falls asleep and wakes up to find the safe wide open, the doors and windows sill locked, and.....the Cavalier's Cup sitting there coyly on the table in front of him.  There's been no hocus-pocus with the Cup itself--the Cup is still the original, jewel-encrusted family heirloom.  So, why all the tom-foolery of getting the Cup out of the safe? And how did whoever it was get in and out?  Is it really the ghost of the old Cavalier himself playing tricks as has been suggested?

A second performance is scheduled once Masters and Merrivale get involved.  This time, it's the good Inspector who sits up in the sealed room.  With similar results--only this time the ghost adds a few finer touches, moving not only the Cup, but a 17th C lute that started on the harpsichord and was placed in front of the fireplace and bringing a cup-hilted rapier from the wall outside the room and placing it a Masters's feet.  Oh...and bashing Masters over the head when he woke up a little too soon. It begins to look like the ghost means business...maybe even deadly business.  And it's up to Merrivale to figure out what the goal of this ghostly prankster is before things get too deadly.

This was a fun romp....perhaps because I was sick when I read it and really in need of something light.  I've seen a few other reviews that rate this rather low--saying it's Dickson/Carr at the low end of his writing powers.  It's true that it's not quite the intricate story and complicated mystery that one gets used to in the earlier Carr--but it's lots of fun and the whole scene where there are four cars waiting out in the driveway and Lady Brace's father is running about the estate yelling "Tally-ho" had me laughing out loud.  It reminded me of Wodehouse.  I did spot the culprit--although I couldn't for the life of me figure out how the entrance/exit was accomplished.  And I'm still trying to figure out if anything was really stolen.  Three stars for a fun, solid read.

Quotes:

Put it in terms of the not-too-serious, if you like. Who got into that locked room? And how was it done? And why should the cup have been moved again? We're up against the essential detective problems of who, how, and why. Simply because there was no murder or near-murder, does that make the mystery one bit less baffling?

Not that anybody cares two pins about history in these days.We've got rid of history; history is all my eye. But I've got to tell you the facts. ~Inspector Masters (p. 51)

I never met a gal who represented a mystery to me in quite the fetchin' way you did. It'd be dull and dreary just to find out how a crook got in and out of a locked room to steal a gold-and-jewelled cup. But it's very rummy, and fascinates the old man a bit, to wonder why a crook didn't steal a gold-and-jewelled cup he should have stolen. ~Sir Henry Merrivale (p. 57)

That's the point. If these Labour MP's were really working men, they'd have some sense. But most of 'em, or at least the ones I've met, seem to be half-baked intellectuals who've specialized in economics or some such dreary muck. ~Sir Henry (p. 61)

There's the pity of it. Elaine Cheeseman's not as young as you; she's forty, maybe. But she's not bad-looking at all. If she took the trouble to dress properly, and occasionally she smiled instead of keeping a frozen, holy-zeal look as though she were goin' to the Crusades instead of only to the polling-station, she might even be a bit of a smasher. ~Sir Henry (p. 61)

Sometimes it seems that men--yes, and even women too!--if they believe in a thing strongly enough, they get a strength or endurance that they wouldn't have believe possible. ~Lady Virginia Brace (p. 67)


But the curator said nothing mattered so long as it looked all right to the ignorant." [Lady Brace]
"Sort of government motto. I see." [Sir Henry Merrivale] (p. 75) 

...both Tom and I adore detective stories. Isn't that so, Tom?" [Lady Brace]
"Right!" agreed her husband...."But they've got to be proper detective stories. They've got to present a tricky, highly sophisticated problem, which you're given fair opportunity to solve."
"And," amplified Virginia, "no saying they're psychological studies when the author can't write for beans."
"Correct!" her husband agreed again. "Couldn't care less when you're supposed to get all excited as to whether the innocent man will be hanged or the innocent heroine will be seduced. Heroine ought to be seduced; what's she there for? The thing is the mystery. It's not worth reading if the mystery is simple or easy or no mystery at all. (p. 103)

Don't-a you laugh at what you don't-a understand. Every good castle in-a Italy, I tell you, she's-a full of spooks! She's-a so full of spooks these-a spooks scare each other. ~Signor Ravioli (p. 107)

When a man can't sleep, he won't let anybody else sleep either. If he doesn't go off to dreamland the moment his head hits the pillow, he gets frightfully annoyed and won't stay in bed. ~Lady Brace (p. 158)

Challenges: 150 Plus Reading Challenge, Mount TBR Challenge, Outdo Yourself, Off the Shelf, Vintage Mystery Challenge, Monthly Key Word, Book Bingo, 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Mystery/Crime Challenge, Embarrassment of Riches, Monthly Mix-Up Mania.

February Mount TBR Reviews

Link up all reviews for February below.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a bookish meme hosted by Book Journey. It's where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It's a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list. So hop on over via the link above and join in...and leave a comment here so I can check out what you are reading.

 

Yikes!  Three books behind according to GoodReads!

 
Books Read (click on titles for review): 

India Black & the Shadows of Anarchy by Carol K. Carr 
Zima Blue & Other Stories by Alastair Reynolds  

 

  

Currently Reading: 

The Cavalier's Cup by Carter Dickson (aka John Dickson Carr): Shades of Death--It had to be the specter of the long-dead Cavalier Sir Bying Rawdon who ghosted into the Oak Room at Telford Old Hall one night, spirited the bejeweled Cavalier's Cup from the locked safe...and left it standing on a table nearby. The room's window's had been firmly latched, the heavy doors double-bolted from the inside...and a live witness had spent the entire night there and seen nothing.  Enter Sir Henry Merrivale--the famous detective wasn't spooked by ghost stories...in fact, impossible crimes always put him in high spirits. A very live intruder was haunting the Hall, and it was up to the redoubtable Sir Henry to unmask the ubiquitous bugbear before his deviltries materialized into a more murderous form of mischief!

   

Books that spark my interest:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ashenden by Elizabeth Wilhide

Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood (a new Phryne Fisher!!!)

 

 

Zima Blue & Other Stories: Review

Alastair Reynolds is apparently a fairly big deal in recent science fiction.  The fact that I didn't know this and, in fact, didn't even know his name before picking up his Zima Blue & Other Stories for the A-Z Reading Challenge (X, and Z are always such devilish letters to find interesting books for...), well, that just goes to show how out of touch I've been from the SF world.

Reynolds is a British science fiction writer.  I have to admit that my SF reading has been very heavily American--with Douglas Adams, Arthur C Clarke and H. G. Wells being my primary authors from across the pond.  According to the interwebs, he specializes in dark hard science fiction and space opera and has won the BSFA award for best novel as well as being nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, Hugo Award for Best Novella, Locus Award for Best First Novel, Locus Award for Best Collection.  This collection most definitely represents his affinity for dark hard science fiction.

There is a lot of war here...war dependent on all sorts of scientific weaponry that I don't even pretend to understand.  War between various offshoots of the human race as well as war against mysterious "others" who may or may not be evil aliens.  These are the darkest of the stories as we try to figure out who the bad guys really are.  The best stories of the collection--"Signal to Noise," "Angels of Ashes," "Understanding Space & Time" and "Zima Blue" --manage to mix that dedication to hard science with interesting human stories without allowing the scientific details to overshadow the human.  Among them, my favorite is "Understanding Space & Time"--I love the infusion of Elton John and "Rocket Man" into the story.  I am also interested in the main character's search for enlightenment and how Reynolds ties that into quantum physics.  

While the two related stories "Hideaway" and "Merlin's Gun" also have a good story to tell, I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out what the heck all these terms meant.  I was distracted to the point that the denouement in each case lost much of its punch.  I also think it would have helped if the stories had appeared in the order they were written--"Merlin's Gun" first, followed by its prequel, "Hideaway."  Many of the confusing details in "Hideaway" would have been much clearer.

I'm not adverse to hard science fiction.  I do think, however, that stories that depend on it and which employ author-generated terms to explain such science should succinctly explain the terms.  No long, drawn-out lectures--just enough to let the average reader understand what's going on.  That's a difficult task for a short story, and that may explain why most of the world-building hard science fiction stories that I really appreciate are novel-length rather than short stories. 

All that said, Reynolds is a good story-teller.  I've enjoyed my venture into more recent British science fiction and am very glad that the A-Z Reading Challenge led me to his book.  There are some very ambitious creations here involving alternate timelines, the augmentation of the human memory, and reality itself.  Three and a half stars.