So subtle! Told like a fable this story took me completely by surprise, and wow! I love the voice of the narrator. The contemplative tone doesn't slow down the plot but widens the scope of the story to include all sorts of philosophical quandaries. Its a story-telling masterpiece, concerned with language and its uses as well as our place in the universe.
"This is a story I have heard..." love love loved it!
This surprisingly deft debut presents a convoluted
political history within a new and well realized
fantasy world. The characters are lively and
although the language is contemporary the
familiarity it lends only adds to the humor.
I enjoyed every inch of it and can't wait for more.
Back for more of the middle-eastern wonder that started with
City of Brass! So well realized and complete! This world is a
marvel and the characters are wonderful. I love the plotting and the politics but I am constantly pleased by the simple elegance of the writing. Chakraborty is excellent at telling you enough for you to imagine it but not too much that you are overwhelmed.
This is the second book in a great series!
I am really enjoying this book. Its a little like taking a guided tour of London, albeit with some paranormal circumstances intervening in the ride. I can't put it down, the characters are great and the mix of expected mythology and new twists is both satisfying and exciting.
This book is great for the history buff as well as for the fan of great sci-fi. You can tell that Ana Palmer has a larger world-building imagination than just your average cyber-culture,and this non-apocalyptic future society is as flawed under its perfect veneer as humanity would naturally be. Economics and Sociology play almost as important characters as the characters themselves. Part one in the "history" has more of a mystery novel feel in some respects, and although Voltaire and
Enlightenment-era history lessons may clutter the narrative from time to time the story has a momentum that carries you through.
Think cold-war era espionage/spy novel but setting-wise more like WWII Bombed out Dresden, then add magical outlawed God-Beings, Dimensional shifts and some terrific writing. I couldn't put it down, or the next one! The third book is coming out in May! Yay!
This subtly written literary horror will creep up on you when you’re not looking. The subdued language and quiet ambiance set you up for a surprisingly vicious ending and oddly resonant symbolism. “Fantastic” in the vein of Kafka this maybe-ghost story is a can’t-put-it-down short read but leaves you wondering long after.
Despite what you have been told, these scones are not hard to make!
This serpentine narrative tells the dark tale of a little girl who finds herself metaphorically and physically lost in a very bad place during modern history’s most shameful moment. Sometimes fairy-tale sometimes not, it illustrates both the horror of the time and also how people might keep themselves alive by the light of the stories they tell each other.
By far a feel-good read if there ever was one. A great Foodie book that makes you want to curl up with something good to nosh on. Join friends for some history with heart-sauce and learn about WWII cooking (with creative foraged ingredients) and the power of food and cooking to bring people (and cultures) together.
Pratchett stepped away from Discworld in this might-have-been alt-history gem and we thank him for it. A lone boy-not-man must rebuild the Nation for his people and remake, remember, and possibly re-invent their identity. Rife with traditional Pratchett humor and poignant riffs on doctrine in all nations, this is a joy to read.
This is the most magical book I've read in a long time. A dark, deep story with bones of pure gold and glitter in the air. The masterful pairing of the setting, which is dark (death row,) and the lyrical, fantastical voice of the narrator is pure beauty itself.
Reclaim that knowledge of pasture-based farming that your great-great grandparents had. If you take care of the land it will take care of your herd. This book is a comprehensive ground (grass) up guide to rotational grazing and careful (and humane) management of pastured livestock. It offers both the basics of ethical pasture-raised meats and dairy as well as intensive management technics for small farm businesses. Includes farm finance planning and examples.
I think it is important to know where our food comes from, (and how it was raised), but if you think that buying "Organic" or "locally raised" is all you have to do to keep your food humane and healthy, read again. Sadly the chapter on Vermont alone might just break your heart. This informative, if upsetting, book takes a hard look at a harder to swallow pill. Marketing has shrouded an already sketchy understanding of humanely raised and maintained food animals, from "free range" myths to "Organic" dairy cruelties.
Terry Pratchett is one of my most adored authors. This was one of the last Discworld novels, and the last Moist Von Lipwig tales, to have been written before Pratchett passed away this summer. And its as awesome as ever, steaming away with a wit yet unmatched and a rollicking story that will keep you watching the rails for sharp turns and narrow tunnels.
This story is like getting your post -apocalypse with a slice of apple pie. It's a bit paranormal, and a bit Little House on the Prairie. I liked the fact that not all things are dark and miserable after Life-As-We-Know-It ends and something else begins.
This book feels like it was written just up the road, and it was! Ghosts? UFOs? This (fictional) little Vermont town has a lot of story to tell. McMahon kept me guessing to the very end.
This urban fantasy is refreshingly brutal, with crisp, nasty prose and adult themes. Modern and rife with pop culture, it is neither affected nor trite. If you liked American Gods or The Dresden Files you will love R.S. Belcher.
R. S. Belcher's old-timey Steampunkish western hits all the right spots for a rip-roaring fantasy. Belcher blends everything from Native American Gods to Lovecraftian monsters into a tale of a town that any six-gun slinging bad-ass would be proud to shoot up come noon.
Bird Box is a fast and dark read. Its a tight-rope-walking-with-a-blindfold kind of read. Creatures you can't see - and don't want to and human drama make for a sci-fi thrilling trip through the dark. I was really glad to go outside and see the sun shining afterward. Creepy and imaginative. I loved it!
Why am I telling you this? Where do stories come from? What do they mean? When Fiona tells Alistair her deepest secret, will he believe her? And what will he do with the terrible burden it puts on him? This is excellent, important, adventurous storytelling.
Mieville accomplishes what fantasy fiction is build for: transforming the mundane into magic. And he does it so well, with such amazing novel creativity, that he makes even Moby-Dick worth reading again (for me). I didn't like Moby Dick - at all - until now. Twisty and ingenious Mieville makes me want to think about Melville. If you have never read Moby Dick it doesn't matter at all, you'll still love this outlandish wild fantasy adventure, and if you have, well, it will be worth your while to spend some time in Railsea!
This may not be your ordinary fantasy story, but it is an excellent telling of several days in the life of an odd and lonely girl. If you love music in your language, light and (sometimes sad) poetry in your characters, you will love this novella. It has all that makes writing worth reading.
The second book in this series. Loving it!
