Book review entries

This week I will be mostly reading…..

Title:

The Secrets of Jin-Shei

Author:

Alma Alexander

ISBN:

0007163746

Rating:

I'm in the middle of this novel and have decided to make a comment on how good it is, even before I reach the end. This narrative is expertly crafted to bring alive a mythical world of medieval China. At the centre of the tale is a secret association of women called the Jin-Shei, the membership of which crosses class and social boundries. The women have a secret language and owe an oath to each other before all other things. Alma Alexander has dream-like, poetic prose that draws a beautiul world of complex loyalties, protocols and friendships which affect the future of this royal Chinese empire.

I highly recommend this text to anyone wanting a novel full of beauty, intrigue and friendship and I will definitely be writing a follow-up review to let you know if the ending is as good as the beginning.

Joanna Jameson : 05 Oct 2004 09:32 |  Tags: Vcb Very Cool Books |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Orcs: Subverting Tolkien

Title:

Orcs: Bodyguard of Lightning, Legion of Thunder, Warriors of the Tempest (Gollancz S.F.)

Author:

Stan Nicholls

ISBN:

0575074876

Rating:

I have to say this was an enjoyable read. If you combined Platoon with Lord of the Rings with The Last of the Mohicans, then Stan Nicolls's Orcs is what you'd get. I love texts that tell us stories from the viewpoints of either "bad" or minor charactors of well known works and Orcs sets out to do just that by telling the tale of an Orc warband called the Wolverines, led by it's captain, Stryke.

Orcs is an omnibus of three novels: Bodyguard of Lightening, Legion of Thunder and Warriors of the Tempest (and there was a very short story at the end called "The Taking"). This saga lives up to the claim on the back cover that "Nicholls will make you change the way you think about Orcs forever." One of its particularly enjoyable aspects is that it is a complete catalogue of every fantasy race or animal you've ever heard of. Nicholls includes everything from Elves, Orcs and Dwarves to Centaurs, Brownies, Gremlins, Fairies, Pixies and even Satyrs… Nicholls also has a knack for exciting descriptions of large battles, hand to hand combat scenes and landscapes that make the story come alive for the reader.

Nicholls does successfully subvert the usual tropes of good and evil and beauty and monstrosity that are common in post-Tolkien writings. He uses the viewpoint of the Other to challenge the traditional subjectivity of this genre, however, sometimes (only sometimes) it feels as if he's overemphasising the viewpoint needlessly. The loyal warband at the centre of the tale manages to convince the reader that Orcs are not monsters but as a race born to war, they are just and honourable warriors who are forced, at times, into service of those who do not uphold their own values.

Orcs has a straight-forward, linear plot that is fast moving and filled with battles, making for a quick read (which is good considering the trilogy is 700 pages!) and all in all, the saga is a fantastic page-turner with a refreshing viewpoint. Anyone who loves Tolkien and other fantasy writings will love Orcs.

PS…I think I'd like to write an extended reading of this novel elsewhere but for those who care about such things, Nicholls is not completely subversive. There is no attempt to overturn the usual gendered tropes. Typically, the big baddy is a sex and power crazed hybrid female who is dangerously alluring. I won't give away the ending for this queen but it is partly why I gave the title four instead of five stars…

Joanna Jameson : 01 Sep 2004 09:28 |  Tags: Vcb Very Cool Books |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

My Favourite Book…Ever

Title:

Charlie and the Chocolate (Puffin Modern Classics)

Author:

Roald Dahl

ISBN:

0140385320

Rating:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is my absolute, all-time favourite read, ever. If you read it when you were a child, take the chance to reread it as an adult. You will be happily reminded why you enjoyed it so much and another plus is that you can regress to your childhood, at least for a little while.

In my opinion, there is no story -teller better than Dahl. The fact that a grown man can pinpoint exactly what elements in a story excite and inspire children and is then able to write so uncondescendingly for a young audience, is amazing. He is truly a master at his craft. He constructs wonderful stories with perfect plot control and an uncanny knack for progression, momentum and causality.

I've spent many years of my adult life being told what is and is not a good piece of writing and why, studying literature and reading hundreds of novels, but to tell you the truth, the books I remember and love the best are the ones I read when I was eight. There are no better remembered scenes than Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Susan emerging from the wardrobe into Narnia or (and especially) Charlie Bucket unwrapping his Wonka bar and finding the last golden ticket.

Joanna Jameson : 05 Jul 2004 12:10 |  Tags: Vcb Very Cool Books |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Fellowship of the Ring: Worth the read?

Title:

The Fellowship of the Ring: The Lord of the Rings, Part 1: Fellowship of the Ring Vol 1

Author:

J. R. R. Tolkien

ISBN:

0261102354

Rating:

Okay, I'm still trying to read a bunch of books that I have always wished I'd read and have never gotten around to. I've just finished The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and I thought it was an absolutely fantastic read. Often, criticisms are leveled at Tolkien for his prose being overly descriptive or dense or needlessly meandering. These criticisms overlook the fact that even though Tolkien is a twentieth century author, he definitely rises out of the nineteenth century novel writing tradition. This book is a Novel with a capital "N" and is something to really sink your teeth into. It creates its own mythology, history and geography and gives the reader the feeling that he or she is peeking into a whole other universe.

If you've both read this novel and seen the film adaptation, you can see how Peter Jackson stayed true to the narrative and the spirit of the tale even in the areas where it was necessary to contract the length of time in the plot. For instance, Frodo in the novel, actually stays at Bag End for years and years before Gandalf tells him the story of the Ring and he's in his fifties when he sets out on the journey. The relationship between Arwen and Aragorn is never mentioned in the text (it is only slightly implied at the House of Elrond) but Jackson had to deal with it in the film in order to set up the next film. Minor characters are either exchanged for major ones or taken out of the film all together and this does not hamper the tale at all. For instance, Tom Bombadill is excluded from the film and the elf who saves Frodo from the Ringwraiths by horse across the river is not Arwen in the novel but an elven guard.

All in all, I wish I had read The Fellowship before watching Jackson's film but it still held my attention and turned out to be a completely immersive read. I recommend it to anyone wanting a real meaty epic with amazing atmosphere. I can now begin to see why The Lord of the Rings was recently voted Britian's favourite read (on channel Four I think). It certainly does deserve a place somewhere at the top of a list of great British novels.

Joanna Jameson : 05 Jul 2004 09:09 |  Tags: Cult Classics Lit |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Nick Hornby's High Fidelity

Title:

High Fidelity

Author:

Nick Hornby

ISBN:

0140293469

Rating:

I've been trying to read novels lately that I always wish I'd read but never got around to. I just finished reading this one the other day and I have to say that it's one of only a handful of novels that has actually made me laugh outloud by myself and the only one to do it at least once every two pages! It was a funny and fast read with very astute and comic observations of some of the most fleeting nuances of romantic relationships and friendships. I think the two strongest characters are Rob's (the main protagonist) two friends, Barry and Dick, who work in his record shop. Hilarious….

For those of you who have seen the film version, it's very close to the novel except for its relocation from London to somewhere in the States. Honestly though, there are very few British references in the text anyway (other than London, I can only remember A Question of Sport) and the casting was just spot-on.

A quick, funny and non-taxing read, I recommend that everyone take it with them on vacation this summer.

Joanna Jameson : 15 Jun 2004 06:44 |  Tags: Vcb Very Cool Books |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Clive Barker's Imajica

Title:

Imajica

Author:

Clive Barker

ISBN:

0006178049

Rating:

This novel DEFINITELY makes my High Fidelity-style-all-time-greatest-top-five-list of novels. When this novel was recommended to me by my husband, I thought, "you must be joking....like I'm going to read something by the author of Hellraiser?" After much nagging and having to actually buy me the book, he was pleased when I sat down and began to read (a daunting task when the sucker is like 3 inches thick!)

Although Barker is a British author known for his horror writing, this is NOT a horror novel, it's the last remaining fantasy EPIC that hasn't been made into a film. Both far reaching and mind blowing (forgive the tacky phrase), it's Lord of the Rings meets The Matrix meets Star Wars. No kidding. Read it. It's like nothing I've ever read before and I couldn't put it down. I'm planning on rereading it in the very near future and lots of others who have read it have done so multiple times. It's one of those narratives that just won't leave your mind after you've finished reading it, tending to hang around the corners of your thoughts begging to be mulled over in moments of silence (ya ok, way OTT but true). It's about a man named Gentle who discovers his forgotten identity. He is the one prophesized to join Earth with the outher four Dominions of the Imajica. He is the Reconciler. The tale starts off with an assassin in a dark, gypsy caravan park in a seedy area of London and ends up with…..well I can't tell ya…read it!

Incidentally, for those of you interested in critical theory, this novel is one of only a handful of examples of feminist texts written by men….

Joanna Jameson : 10 May 2004 17:00 |  Tags: Cult Classics Lit |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Why Everyone Should Read George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

Title:

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Author:

George Orwell

ISBN:

0140126716

Rating:

Possibly the most important text ever written about totalitarianism. More accessible than a lecture in politics and much more interesting than a Discovery Channel documentary on government and the individual. Every well read, well educated person should have a well thumbed copy of this novel in his or her library.

Orwell's text is not just about populations being watched by Big Brother. It's a catalogue of how populations are controlled in much more subtle ways, such as perscribed language and dictionaries, sexual norms and "official" accounts of history. Considering Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1949 before the television revolution got underway, this novel, with its two-way telescreens, its Britanic-American governmental alliance and its enforced permanent-present is a prophetic and spooky statement on current affairs.

Joanna Jameson : 10 May 2004 11:42 |  Tags: Cult Classics Lit |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem