Thaddeus M.

Perhaps the first time for 5 stars in all three categories for me

Revisado: 08-19-23

Unreal how good this book is… with a caveat. I at times knew that there would be people who could if they wanted judge this a little harshly for not having the character depth they might want, not enough intrigue, beliefs and preconceived notions not challenged, etc. etc. but that’s not why I was reading this book. I was reading it to be entertained, to learn more about Vikings and Alfred the Great of England, and kingdoms and fiefdoms of medieval Great Britain… of course names and locations changed, with Kay’s signature fantasy twist… and to just feel a little better for the journey I was taking.

It was a wonderful voyage. I am incredibly grateful for the trip!! BTW — if you have gotten super tied to Simon Vance taking you through Kay’s magnificent worlds, like me, Holter Graham is a shock to the system… but I can assure you once you reconcile the fact that Holter is not Simon Vance, will never be Simon Vance… and comes from an entirely different part of this Earth that Simon Vance, and thus differently accented… you will soon come to really enjoy Holter Graham.

I should note that I lived in Denmark as a kid so I’m a sucker for all things Vikings. I was thrilled to live in this world with maybe the only mildest of disappointments that we didn’t really get to live in the world of the Norsemen as much as had been hoped… but… even though I am trying to complain, I can’t. It’s just too good.

My highest recommendation.

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What a wonderful return to the Imperial Radch universe

Revisado: 08-07-23

Ann Leckie is a delight, a talent, and someone who’s bad dreams I’d be afraid to occupy. She triumphantly charts on a swerving course of entirely alien experiences that are also human. You find yourself rooting for the weirdness and that in itself is really all the review you need.

I will note that I have loved every narration performance that I have heard of Adjoa Andoh’s audiobook career. This was no different. I’d listen to her read the telephone book.

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Spellbinding from the start

Revisado: 07-27-23

Only read the following if you are okay with oblique spoilers. Otherwise, trust me that it’s good and you will enjoy it and read no further.

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Impossible to live up to the opening, perhaps. Even so, the opening is near impossible to write…. that’s why it is so brief. But a book that begins with a man alone burying the decades long since dead, and the dead numbering in the hundreds of thousands, kept company by the ghosts screaming at night… and the man doing it in penance for a father’s regret… well, I’m in for whatever happens. That was my thought as the book began. It is a shimmering brilliance that the book upend with and while yes, impossible to live up to the opening the book comes close to succeeding, at some points it actually seems to do just that.

As with all Guy Gavriel Kay novels, save his first three — The Fionvar Tapestry — and Ysabel, be transported to an almost time in history with a twist of fantastic. I love reading/listening to his books for how much you can feel you are living in history… knowing it’s not the truth and Kay does all he can to not purport it to be, by making it a slight fantasy. I always feel I have learned more about the actual places and times than I ever knew before. Each book prompts me to research and study independently the times and places that inspired the writing. What a gift this book and Kay himself is! I am grateful to be under the spell of his writings again again.

In brief — I couldn’t rate the story 5 stars because I found it to have some stretches that didn’t rise to the brilliance of the rest. However, these stretches weren’t bad by any means and you, potential reader, may delight in them! And still overall I give this my strongest recommendation. Enjoy!

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So so good.

Revisado: 07-11-23

I’d give this 5 stars for both overall and story, but there has to be room for the very very best. And while this is close… I’ll have to see if it stays with me like the Sarantine Mosaic duology did… or The Lions of Al-Rassan. In fact I just bumped the first book of the Sarantine Mosaic up to 5 stars. I read it three years ago.

Anyway if you want a real review, I’ll keep it brief without spoilers. First and broadly, read Guy Gavriel Kay, I have no idea why he isn’t more popular. He’s fantastic and if you have read him read this one too. Secondly, this book takes place at the beginning of the Renaissance in our world’s history and gives the Western reader pause to consider why we don’t study the fall of Constantinople in our World History AKA History of Western Civilization courses. Yes, it’s not Western… but it was for all intents and purposes until it fell. I wondered why I had felt so much pain, from learning more about the fall of Rome — as to what we might have lost because it fell. And in reading the books of Guy Gavriel Kay especially ones tied to his Sarantine Empire I have found that I lament for past I didn’t even know to care about through these fictional works. I’m not inconsolable, mind you. In any case this book deals with the city states if the Mediterranean in the decades after the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottomans. Fictionalized and given different names as Kay does. And just like each of his books we meet people who have various real world work to do in the shadings of those places. He ties these disparate pieces together in gripping pages that are both fast moving while continually being grounded in real heavy in the now scenes. A fascinating look at the struggle to define new normals in a world unlike the region had known for a thousand years. Highly recommended.

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Am unexpected delight

Revisado: 06-13-23

Too often writers write their coming of age novels first when they really have yet to come of age. The first two novels of the Wayfarers series were very different from each other and each quite enjoyable — what made this different was there was very little outward conflict. It was all internal. Not to say that most of the first two weren’t dealing with internal conflict but this was all about what made things okay for you — and becoming comfortable knowing what it is that you value. And all the while deciding to continue to try. Coming of age.

I get bored when there are big action set pieces in books these days, little to no character development happens within those scenes — but all the same I kept waiting dutifully for one to appear. And when at last I realized it was never coming, I smiled.

I feel like we are in for bigger and bigger things from Becky Chambers. I feel like we have gotten on board at the ground floor. Can’t wait to ploughing ahead through her expanding bibliography!

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