Hello September! Where did the summer go? It’s finally cooling down at night over here on the west side of Japan. Which means autumn is just around the corner, I’m happy to say. I love the heat of the summer over here, but you can take the humidity, please, no really, please take it away! Can you imagine working at a school in 35+ degree-heat with over 70% humidity, without air conditioning? It’s like working in a sauna.
But enough moaning from me. I hope your summer was fantastic. Did you get a lot of summer reading done?..
I didn’t.
Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the beach. I know for sure that I got distracted by Netflix. I’m also quite embarrassed to admit that I only managed to post one review in August. The shame!! At least it was the inventive, weird and wonderful Fairyland by Paul McAuley.
Summer Reading Highlights
I enjoyed Bob Shaw’s BSFA Best Novel-winning The Ragged Astronauts (1986). It’s a tale of two worlds only a thousand miles apart and the choices people make when facing possible extinction. Good characterization, some exciting action scenes; it also has huge balloon airships and an environmental message. Full review to follow.
I read Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (1960), which was popular when I was at primary school in the early 1980s. Here’s my mini review from goodreads:
Clothed in the featureless snow, the countryside seemed vast; limitless as a desert, and as silent as a mine, the land offered no cover. (p.246)
Originally published in 1960, this was a popular children’s book when I was growing up. I didn’t get around to reading it until this year, 2017. I was always curious about it and I’d read good things about Garner’s writing, specifically his depictions of nature. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as good as I’d imagined, but that’s probably down to my reading it as an older, more mature reader.
Good descriptions of landscape and weather, you get a strong sense that Alan Garner enjoyed writing about nature and place. The setting of Alderley Edge is well realized, the characters not so well. There are nods to Arthurian legend, and you can feel the influence of Tolkien with Garner’s inclusion of elves, dwarfs, a wizard, and a stone of power. The ending felt very sudden, and left me feeling like I’d missed something.
3 stars for the nature writing, 2 for the story and characters. I wonder what a much younger me would have made of it…
There were a couple of short stories that impressed me. The first was Cassandra Khaw’s fabulous “These Deathless Bones” available here for free. The one-sentence synopsis states:
‘A horror tale about the Witch Bride, second wife of a King, and the discord between her and her young stepson.’
And with lines like these, who could possibly resist its dark, delicious charms?…
“I hate you,” I continue. “With everything that I am. I hate your screaming. I loathe your lying, screeching ways. I abhor your crocodile tears, your sly little smiles—oh, don’t think that the adults don’t know. We can tell when you’re putting on a show.”
The pupils of his eyes are so wide that they almost eclipse his irises, leaving only the barest halo of gold to encircle the dark. In them, I can see myself: fearsome, fearless, furious.
Another beautiful tale was Peter S. Beagle’s recent short story “The Story of Kao Yu” (available here). This is a moving tale of an ageing judge traveling across China in the distant past, and his dealings with a particular criminal, as well as a chi-lin, or Chinese unicorn.
For a complete change, I lost myself in Leigh Brackett’s pulpy adventure novella “Black Amazon of Mars” (1951). It was a very entertaining adventure story with some great female characters and very readable prose. Full review to follow.
Have you read any of these stories? I’d love to hear what you think!
Now, back to Fitz’s story in Robin Hobb’s addictive Assassin’s Apprentice (1996). Why has it taken me so long to discover this gem?…
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