Monthly report: March & April 2011

Because it often happens that I read a book but don't review it (or I take a long time writing a review), I've decided to start posting brief monthly reports on what I read, including a sentence or two about the book if it was not reviewed.

I didn't read much in March and April, so I decided to (again) combine the two montly reports. :)

Black Man (Richard Morgan): First of 'The Pile specials' I actually managed to read! Black Man was not quite what I expected - it's a bit of an SF detective story, and while the plot had me quite interested, I didn't feel very close to either of the protagonists, I couldn't immerse myself in the story even when I tried and it was overall a very, very slow read. I have to add that these are problems I often encounter when reading SF, though; I'm never sure whether that's due to authors' style or whether it's just me.

Swan Song (Robert McCammon): A re-read. Swan Song is a total ripoff of The Stand (I mean it - the end of the world, plethora of characters, good vs. evil faction, supernatural powers on both sides, plethora of characters, a traumatised youngster who falls prey to the 'dark side' and 'the man with the scarlet eye' as the antagonists, ...), but still interesting and gripping enough to be read in one sitting.

Matterhorn (Karl Marlantes): While this one doesn't fall under the speculative fiction category, it seemed to be everyone's favourite book of 2010 and so I absolutely had to read it. Turns out that for once, I agreed with the praise I heard about it - the book was an awesome read, and I'm still struggling to describe it in the way that'd do it justice. Matterhorn is about Vietnam war as it really was through the eyes of a young man - mind-numbingly boring and yet incredibly exciting, futile and illogical, a dangerous game. The book was also gripping enough to keep me reading through the night until I finished it, which is always a good thing (unless you have to get up early ;).

The Folding Knife (K. J. Parker): this was another one of those curious books that are really intriguing, plot-wise, but at the same time the story is just not gripping enough and you stay somewhere in the middle, reading on because you want to know what happens, while taking your sweet time to do so because you're not that interested after all (and the pace of the book is not exactly fast, either). I know that the characters weren't the problem here - the story centers on Basso whom I actually liked very much - so maybe it was the lack of action? The Folding Knife was good enough that I want to read more by K. J. Parker, but I think it'd greatly benefit from a faster pace.

Catching Fire & Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins): These two books have
exactly the pace The Folding Knife is lacking. While I was not as impressed with them as I was with The Hunger Games, I still devoured them - I read both in one sitting, and I don't think this ever happened to me with a series. There are some slight problems with the plot and characters, but this has to be one of the most exciting series I've ever read. (Review upcoming.)

The Pile - February '11

The TBR pile - we all have one and it grows faster than we can read. Mine is no exception. I thought it might be interesting to round up and present all of my recent acquisitions once a month, so ... here we go.

I'm happy to say that February was a month when I bought less books than I read. Yay me! I'm also sorry for posting this so late. I guess 'beter late than never' is becoming my new motto.





K. J. Parker: The Folding Knife

This one was on so many Best of 2010 lists that I absolutely had to buy it. I already own the first book of The Engineer trilogy, but I think I'll start with this one. Reading priority: high.

Paolo Bacigalupi: The Windup Girl

Bacigalupi's collection of short stories, Pump Six and Other Stories, has been on my wishlist for some time, but it took so long for it to get published in paperback edition that I got tired of waiting and bought The Windup Girl (which was also praised all over the Internet) instead. Of course, after I bought it, I read some negative reviews on it and found out that the Pump Six paperback has been out since October. Just my luck, I guess. Reading priority: medium.

Dennis Lehane: Shutter Island

I bought this one because I liked the movie and because I adore unreliable narrators. The only problem is that I still remember what the twist was all about, so I either have to wait until I forget it or try to enjoy the book despite knowing what it's all about. For now, I'll try waiting a bit; reading priority is therefore low.






I also bought The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell, but since I've already read it, I'll describe it in the Monthly report for February.

The Pile Special

I bet you know the feeling when you have a book on your TBR pile that seemingly everyone has read and praised, but you still haven't gotten around to reading it. I have plenty of those, and I will select and present one every month. My goal? To read it ASAP, preferably during the next month. This month's special is:

Richard Morgan: Black Man

This one has been sitting on my shelf for at least two years now. I'd read Morgan's Steel Remains and loved it, but since he is primarily known as an SF author, I wanted to read one of his SF novels as well. I choose Black Man because of all the positive reviews it got ... and never touched it again.

K.J. Parker - The Escapement (Book Review)

Perpetual republic is under siege. The army of nearly a million savage Aram Chantat is getting ready to dig in around the city of Mezentia under the unsure leadership of Duke Valens. The abominator Ziani Vaatzes together with the genius sociopath Daurenja is building siege engines of all kinds. From those specified, to something perhaps unseen, the secret weapon – a blackpowder canon. But for all their weapons nobody knows if they'll manage to defeat the mighty fortifications of the city before they run out of food themselves. Meanwhile secretary Psellus turns for salvation to another secret weapon - a woman. The flicker wife of Zianis who together with her blindly ambitious lover Boioannes was the cause of the bloodshed…

Just finished it and as expected, the book is a decent ending to a decent trilogy. Parker is a good storyteller. Even without rereading first two books you soon fall back into the rhythm of characters and events. Especially the characters since they are the most important part in his The Engineer trilogy. Second important part of the book is, not surprisingly, engineering. Not engineering of machines, though that is an important part of the story too, but engineering reality so that it may give the wanted result.

Unfortunately as important and well written as both parts are, none of them is perfect. His characters are as a rule too extreme - too smart, too ingenious, too much duty-bound, too romantic, perhaps even too psychotic to be realistic. For the second part what disturbed me most were the leaps with which he usually ends his books. You read through the series of events and thoughts, but the end makes most of them unimportant. It reminded me of all those detective stories in which you are never given all the clues that the detective found and all of the discoveries he made – just the ending. The butler did it…

Oh, and as an afterthought. What REALLY bothered me was his use of star fort when describing fortifications. Such forts developed in the response to the use of gunpowder, the world of this series is still the world of classical siege engine designs, so such fortification would be unlikely. O.K. I'm a historian, so sue me. Such things tend to bother me a bit, but don't let it spoil your reading pleasure.

All in all a decent read. Book and series both. So from me: 3,5/5

My first publication on the blog… Damn I'm nervous and awaiting your praise (you don't have to bother with criticism, right?). So, please, do leave a comment.

- BlindMan -