Richer and cleverer than everyone else

I just realized that I get most of my reading/writing done when I'm sick or injured.  This time, it's sickness.  I don't know what that says about me.  I'm sitting here at 8pm at night, wrapped in a blanket like a granny and falling asleep.  I often wonder if this is what old age feels like.  I must be old.  I feel old.

Enough.  I'm not here to talk about how old I am.  I'm here to tell you about the bookbone I have for The Gentleman Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch. Scott's world is an amazing word wizard who has build an amazing word world.  The cities, the religions, the calendar, the food (the everything)...  all this is fed to you with the most delicious words.  Oh, and the insults.  Who could forget about all the awesome insults? The books are worth it for the education in new and exciting ways to insult people.  The story is told in snippets of the 'present' and the past that intertwine in ways that are nostalgic and meaningful.  The storytelling is very clever.

Here are my thoughts per book:

Book 1:  Gentlemen Bastards are suave as hell
Locke Lamora is a name that just rolls of the tongue, doesn't it?  For the first third of this book, you just get sucked into how smoothly everything is going.  When you think you know what game Locke and his crew are playing... well, you don't know anything!!!!! Then of course, things take hilarious and horrifying turns.

Book 2:  Gentlemen Bastards are Oceans 11  AND Swashbucking Pirates
After reading the first book, I was a bit skeptical about the second, given that it was set on the high seas.  How do city thieves fair against the waves?  Magnificently.  Not only are there plenty of laugh out loud moments, you also somehow manage to pick up some fun language and traditions (much of it fictional) concerning sailing.  I am never setting foot on a boat again without feeling the need to bring a cat with me.  And I don't even like cats.

One thing that is worth noting is that this book treats women pretty well.  When you've read enough fantasy books, you just get use to the absence of women in the backdrop of the world.  Scott's bringing back the ladies, which deserves two thumbs up.

Book 3:  A Plot:  Gentlemen Bastards do Karthain, B Plot: Gentleman Bastards put on a play
If you're not into watching a man trip over again and again and again because of his lady love, fear not, for this book is really two in one (and the second story has much less romance in it than the other part... that is, if you can call it romance and not outright punishment).  It was great to have the twins of the group back in the picture - their departure was greatly mourned.

Book 4 is slated to come out this year.  I can't wait.

And still, it snows.

I think I've done my back again.  Heatpack for the win.  Man, I'm getting old.

I said something about reviewing the Children of the Black Sun series if I got the the end and it wasn't completely depressing, I'd write about it.  And guess what?  It wasn't depressing (aka not everyone dies).

Winter Be My Shield, the first book, was everything that the shopgirl at Dymocks promised.  Action, adventure, gritty magic, and a female lead whose main purpose is more than just the canvas for a which-boy-will-i-pick dilemma.  Definitely recommended reading - Jo does a great job at creating a winter wonderland (the word 'wonderland' is probably misleading here because the land is pretty damn harsh).  This would be my favourite book in the series.

Second book, Black Sun Light My Way, takes a bit of a detour into what I have crudely summarized as 'torture games', which is not my favourite bedtime reading.  But then again, what else to expect from a title that references a black sun?

North Star Guide Me Home has more cheer aloud moments (which I am all for) and the magic really starts getting cool.  The books introduce a really interesting conceptualization of family and romantic relationships.  It made me squirm in 1 and 2, and I didn't quite get it until this third installment.  Then it was all 'awwww' and fuzzy wuzzies.

The scene stealer of the series is a blood mage called Rasten who is pretty hardline evil, but endears himself by being the most forthright, takes-no-shit character of the series.  If I had to dislike something about the book, it would be (without giving anything away too much) that there were too many babies.

Troll Mountain Episode II and III

Wow.

What starts out as a travel adventure story quickly turns into familiar Matthew Reilly territory; trying to trump one action scene with the next action scene.  It is, essentially, a hero's journey story for kids.  The author's notes/interview at the end of the book pretty much covers anything I would say.  I'm really happy I read it.

Will I be buying any more e-books?

That really depends on Matthew Reilly.  I'm really looking forward to whatever comes next out of that man.

My first e-book purchase: Troll Mountain Episode I

After a couple weeks of internal debate, I signed up to Amazon and downloaded the Kindle App so that I could get to Troll Mountain by Matthew Reilly, my favourite author of all time.  I finished reading Episode I this afternoon, and I've got Episode II ready to go.  Episode III hasn't come out yet, so I'm a bit iffy on reading Episode II yet just in case it ends on a cliffhanger (as one of Matthew's Jack West books did... I thought I needed to say this just so you all know what this man is capable of).  Who am I kidding?  I will probably read it before the week's end.

The story follows the journey of Raf, a linear 15 year old who leaves his tribe in search of a cure for his sick sister.  He gains two interesting companions on his impossible quest.  

The language is fairly simple, and reads like it is accessible to very young readers.  The characters exist to propel the plot and for the author to present his ideologies on strong/weak, kind/cruel.  It reads like your typical fantasy player-character adventure.  The backdrop is fantasy, which is another interesting deviation from the author's usual action-packed 'real world' thriller.  Do I like the departure from the norm?  Definitely.  It's like seeing teachers dressed like normal people on the weekend.  Like your GP at a Bon Jovi concert.  Refreshing. 

Can't wait for this to become a paperback.  

Matthew Reilly's 'The Tournament'

Against my better judgement, I stayed up last night to finish the book.  I knew I had to facilitate a group today... but here I am, I survived.  All is well.

Subtlety is not Matthew Reilly's middle name.  If you like The Avengers movie (and not just for the parade of mancandy, ladies), specifically the simple and effective story line, the pace, the good vs evil stuff, and the goofy foreshadowing, then you're going to like The Tournament.  I loved it.

The only thing that raises an eyebrow for me is the punishment of sexual promiscuity in this book.  Matthew justifies it by linking it with the development of QE1 in the book, but his approach to the subject, given that it's the first book of his that I've read that goes anywhere near sexuality, is bordering on preachy.  I'm also not overly fond of the 'hero saves the day/girl' moments.  I would have hoped that when he chose to tackle this sort of POV, there would be more girl relevant stuff in there (ie.  I've been told that John Marsden occupies the mind of a teenage girl scarily well).  For those that follow Matthew Reilly's work, you'll know what I mean when I say that this book desperately needed a 'Mother'.

I can not stress enough that if a young mind were to read this, it would melt or explode.  Definitely not for anyone under, say, 15 years old.  Actually... see, I don't know about that.  Some of the themes are explicit and gross, but it's written in a way that I think young people can access.  I remember my Grade 8 teacher picking out a monologue for me about a pedophile who was trying to rationalize his actions.  So... I suppose if a young mind were to be exposed to content that it will inevitably be exposed to anyway, I would say that The Tournament is a good way to do it.

Overall?  I'ma give it 8/10.

Thank you Matthew Reilly for another great book.

Half Way Through The Tournament

I don't write book reviews.  I don't know how to review for shit.  But when my favourite author puts out a new book, I want to shout it from the mountain tops.

Matthew Reilly doesn't have a track record for being the most highbrow writer.  Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoy his work.  His books read like movies, and always includes interesting facts melded into fiction.  They are entertaining, and entertainment is the reason I read.  Many a time I have broken a reading-drought with a Matthew Reilly book.

The Tournament, in many ways, is a classic Matthew Reilly piece (gory deaths, knock-out competitions, a main character that uses his brain over brawn), however, it is also in many ways not classic Matthew.

For one, it's written in first person.
By a woman.
And not just any woman...
It's Queen Elizabeth I.

And really, at that point, I think I've said enough, but I feel compelled to rant on.

I'm halfway though the book, and it's entertaining as hell.  It's like he's written a children's book, but for adults.  The moral-of-the-story points are simple and mainstream, like his 'never give up, never say die' style in Hover Car Racer, but there are some distinctly adult notes in this book.  I never thought 'Matthew Reilly' and 'Sexed it Up' were words that would ever appear in the same sentence, but here we are.  Shows that minds can still be blown away.