~Updates

Well let me see...

I've been a bit absent of late, blame it on the tonsilitis and the fact that work has been insane. If you've been reading then you'll know I've done a couple of book reviews recently but if you're more interested in what I've been reading the whole list from the last 18 months is here.  There is even a tab for you to give me some suggestions on what I should be reading in the future.

Creatively I've bitten a bullet and I've signed up to do a short course in October on creative writing.

The upside to the tonsilitis was that I caught up on a few bits and pieces. Firstly I mainlined season one of Nurse Jackie, it is one excellent show and I have enjoyed watching it muchly. I like that it is short and I love the level of insight into Jackie's character. I also adore the supporting cast with much love going to Merrit Weaver as Zoey and Stephen Wallem as Thor.

I've also been watching the BBC adaptations of the Jackson Brodie series of novels: Case Histories, When Will There be Good News and One Good Turn. All brilliantly adapted and starring Jason (Lucius Malfoy) Isaacs.  It has been Sunday night telly, but its been good sunday night telly.

We're catching up with Treme which is a great piece of television but not the easiest watch in the world.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand has also been part of the mix, have to admit a few weeks ago one of the episodes went too far for me. It went too far and I was actually tempted to drop it but after giving it a rest and letting it settle I've gone back and actually since that one off the scale gruesome episode, the rest have been much better experiences.

Haven is another series we're trying and yay. Love. It has elements of some shows I loved in the past. American Gothic and the X files and its a weird and fun little show.

I was less impressed with Bored to death, the central character is, if I'm honest a bit of a douche. The concept is good and it was beginning to improve so I'll probably stick with it.

I am mourning in my heart for the end of the first season of A Game of Thrones, I love this show so much I broke my book buying ban in a huge and not cheap way. I kind of want spring 2012 to be sooner please so that there will be more.  The show is too good. If you haven't seen it I urge you to give it a go, it is a very rewarding watch.

There is a little squee in my heart True Blood has returned and so has Dexter one of these shows I've waited paitently to be be on FX the other I haven't.

I'll try and do more regular posts. And to vary them a little bit more than I have been.

Killing Kiss

I picked up all three Vampire Gene novels at a convention I recently attended and as such I got to meet Sam Stone we got to talking about how vampires have been defanged somewhat, she reassured me that her vampires didn't sparkle and so I bought the books and have been looking forward to reading them.

And I have made a start, I've read killing kiss and it is enjoyable. First off I think this is probably one of the few urban fantasy novels that I've read that is set in the UK so that immediately gets bonus points from me. Secondly Gabriele is definitely a predator, the reader is left with no misconception that he's a pretty efficient killer.

That said, I found the character fairly easy to empathise with, as the novel fills in his backstory alternating with the contemporary one.

Lilly is a really likeable character, she's strong willed and really doesn't take any vampire crap.

The story rattles along at a good pace and is both fiercely enjoyable and rather sexy, even if I do say so myself.

I am really looking forward to reading the sequels.

Book review: Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris

First my declaimer, I've read most of Joanne Harris' novels and there isn't one I haven't thoroughly enjoyed.  Blueeyedboy, is one of her finest works to date.

The theme of the novel is about the fluidity of identity and putting fingers to keyboard right now, its always been one of her signature themes.  This novel has a darker tone, it is still a playful novel, but there is a dark side to the psyches that are presented here.  As with her previous work language is used in both a skilful and playful way. The protagonist's voice, Blueeyed boy himself revels in the language that he uses. Meanings are layered and words are chopped up to subvert and enhance their meaning.

There are two narrators and the strands of story twist and knot and provide a non linear structure. The novel is also written in the form of journal entries like Live Journal and Dream Width and some of the many copies that are out there. The narrators contradict each other and as a reader you cannot trust that anything you are told is truth even in the 'private' entries. The ending is not big on closure and not everyone copes well with books like this and if you don't get on with this style of writing then move on you probably won't get much from this novel.

What I love about Blueeyedboy and Harris' work in general is her descriptive writing. Much of the narrators' ideas are explained in the language of colours and taste. I also love that as a reader you experience the same event multiple times throughout the novel from different perspectives so there isn't any one Truth but a plurality of truths.

I've seen reviewers complain that they have trouble keeping up with the changes in narrators and who don't like the fluidity of the narrative. To be honest I've got little time for these people, I don't like being spoon fed as a reader and enjoy the challenges of working things out and actively enjoy being surprised by an author.  I like that Joanne Harris is leading me up the garden path with parts of the narrative, she's so beguiling with her words that I'm happy to be lead.

The novel also resonates with me because I'm one of those users of  those journaling sites not the murky depths of  badguysrock but I understand these sites and her portrayal of them is refreshingly accurate and completely recognisable.

Awesome book.

 

Dead Reckoning - a point of view

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris       

Is the eleventh (!) book in the southern vampire mysteries.  It still revolves around Sookie Stackhouse and whereas the earlier books really engaged me to the point of obsession. Dead in the Family and Dead Reckoning both have left me somewhat cold.

I was mulling the reasons over and I came up with this conclusion: there is no mystery in these two novels. It's all character but and a lot of questions answered but really no major questions set up and no central mystery. I still liked the characters and I still wanted to find out what happened, but the urgency just wasn't there like it was in the earlier novels.

I still love Eric though, so that's all right with the world.

Badass witches and Viking vampires

Writiing is kind of hard for me to do at the moment, energy is no where but there are some diversions in the form of the books I've been reading. Oh dear I've been a bit remiss at reviewing what I've read but things have come into alignment for the first time in an age and so I'll bring you up to speed on where I've been escaping to.
 
To be honest reading lost momentum, doing a show does that to you. So it took far longer than it should to complete Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. Which was a shame as it's a corking read,  even if it is somewhat at odds with it's cover.  The tone of the cover is that the witch concerned is a complete badass which would be totally fine, but the novel is pitched in a softer way.  Rachel can be all butt kick but there's also a lot of worrying and no small amount of stupid decisions.
 
the novels are good fun though and the second has enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, I'm always wring in whodunits and there are genuine surprises in the novels.
 
I like the universe that's been created, I love then idea that vamps wws witches and other mythical creatures had to 'come out' after a genetic accident wiped out half the human population some really awesome ideas IMO.
 
I am also looking forward to resuming the series once I've finished my next book. This is the first book I've bought in about 12 months. I know right? However, I have special dispensation to buy books which are really important to me.  At the top of this list is Terry Pratchett novels and then if JK Rowling decides to publish ever again I'll probably be there and then there are the books which got me into the urban fantasy genre themselves. The southern vampire mysteries.  My friend gave me the first 6 which I inhaled in about a fortnight then ordered then next two from amazon second hand and then bought the following two brand new, in hardback for the final one.
 
This one Dead Reckoning I actually preordered and had delivered to my little home.
 
I am currently one chapter deep and I have really missed fictional Eric. I love vikings.

Tellygasms

I'm in telly heaven at the moment.

Let me squee at you.

Doctor Who returned with one hell of a bang on Saturday night and I've watched it twice so far and I may have to watch it again to try and make sense of it.

I geeked off the scale with this episode and had to hug a cushion in the first few minutes and there was some shouting at the TV.

I squeed loudly because Mark Sheppard in this episode really made me smile. Secondly my heart breaks for River Song, she's kind of tragic and we already know how she ends but what we don’t know is how she begins. 

Favourite line: " The legs, the nose and Mrs Robinson."

"I hate you."

The monsters are frightening and the complicatedness of wibblywobblytimeywimey means that I had a theory about the astronaut but then who is the little girl and no Amy no!

What does all of that mean? I'm not sure. I was pretty shell shocked and next week looks like hell in a hand basket.

CAN.NOT.WAIT!!!

Apologies for the multiple exclamation marks but dear me I can't take much more tension. I wanted the next episode immediately.

The other thing in my life is so shiny and new I couldn't quite believe it.

Game of Thrones.

Is epic on a level I'm not sure I can comprehend yet. I have so much love for the house of Stark already. Ned is epic all northern and stoic with a huge brood including an illegitimate son who seems rather interesting. I'm rubbish with names so we have Boromir/Sean Bean/Ned head of the family and so far we see he's just and upright and noble. The elder sons are all interchangeable at the moment. The son from the wrong side of the bed sheets I believe is called Jon and there is youngish son Bran - you can't miss what happens to him in the first episode and elder daughter and girlie girl and younger daughter Ayra(?) who is rather good with a sword and a girl after my own heart.  I'm still pining for my own dire wolf.  There's the king his second wife the queen and her brothers one is good looking and apparently evol and has quite a thing for his own sister. There is the dwarf brother who gets all the best lines. They are all Lannisters

Across the water are the creepy blonde siblings. I love them rather a lot because clearly bonkers in another dodgy brother sister relationship.  There are also horse people who are very klingony in culture and my my their leader is rather fine.

This show is going to own my soul because guh men in chainmail and violence and intrigue and rawr.

Jason Momoa = hawtness personified as far as this fangirl is concerned

as you were people :)

Runemarks by Joanne Harris

The latest book in my challenge was Runemarks by Joanne Harris.  Runemarks is her first novel aimed at young adults and whereas her other novels have contained fantastic elements whereas this one is a proper fantasy novel. It's also been sitting on my bookshelf for about two years. This is because I've been a lazy reader buying books and then not getting around to reading them.  Its only in the last two years when I've set myself some challenges have I got back tinto the habit of reading have I managed to yomp through so many.  Anyway, back to the review.

It centres around Maddy a young girl who is an outsider in her own village. She has a runemark or a ruinmark as the villagers call it.  The novel starts there with visits from a gnarly old mad called One-Eye.

This novel rapidly stops being about a small village and more about Harris' reinterpretation of Norse mythology with a little bit of questioning organised religion.

Needless to say I found the novel beguiling and I really enjoyed the instense descriptions.  Its a great story and she invokes a whole lot of life into the Norse Gods.

Go read it, its fab.