REDEPMTION IN INDIGO by Karen Lord
Small Beer Press, 2010, 178 pages, 978-1-931520-66-9, Trade Paperback, $16.00

Genre: Fantasy

My latest review at BSCreivew is of  Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord. This book is unique, enjoyable, and quick to read. It’s also my first experience with “magical realism,” and I have to say–I think I’m hooked.

~

Tags: books, bscreview, external reviews, fantasy, karen lord

GOOD OMENS by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Ace, 1996, 367 pages, 0-441-00325-7, Mass Market Paperback, $6.99

Genre: Fantasy/Comedy

Why so many mini-views, you ask? Because I’ve read a number of books in the last few months, but I haven’t had anything resembling enough time to write proper reviews about them. Not being able to write full reviews should not, however, mean that I don’t talk about them at all. And so…here we are.

As far as this particular book goes, well, I can finally, FINALLY (and happily!) say that I’ve read Good Omens. The only question you should be asking (because I’m certainly asking myself) is — what took you so long?

I purchased Good Omens back when it was first released in the States. It’s been sitting on my shelf for what…fourteen years? Yeah, that’s right–I’ve got the old school cover, too.

My god. I was a sophomore in high school back then. Er. . .let’s not talk about that.

Of course, since I’m a chronic book buyer, I ended up purchasing far more books after Good Omens, which caused it to get lost in the shuffle. Lately, though, I’ve been trying to dust off a few of my older, unread titles in order to give them some much-awaited attention.

Since this is a mini-view, I’m not going to go crazy with plot summaries and the like. Basically, I’m working off the assumption that everyone but me has already read this book (not true, but it ought to be).

Good Omens was fabulous in the way that only a couple of snarky British writers could make it fabulous. If you like this brand of humor (and why wouldn’t you?), you won’t be able to get through a chapter of this book without laughing so hard you cry. Honestly, I begin to wonder if the reason why I took so long to get through this novel was that I never wanted it to end. It always guaranteed hilarity, no matter what time of day.

Easily, my favorite bits of the book included Crowley and Aziraphale. Crowley is fantastically awful but not quite evil, if you know what I mean. Meanwhile, Aziraphale is an angel in a bookshop. I think from here on out I should start taking notes about angels in bookshops. Maybe set up a convention. So far the only two in attendance are Aziraphale and Lyda Morehouse’s Morningstar (who no doubt got his ticket through sheer force of personality—and probably for free).

There’s a lot about this book that you’ll enjoy, especially if you like clever humor. And ducks. Oh, I loved the ducks.

I tend to recommend it to people who’ve read and enjoyed The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The humor strikes me as similar, though the subject is different.

I think my only remaining question, after reading this book is, what happened with Hastur? I was sure he was going to come after Crowley again in the end. Either I missed it, or that wasn’t quite wrapped up.

~

Tags: book reviews, fantasy, humor, mini-views, neil gaiman, terry pratchett

THE SPIRIT LENS by Carol Berg
ROC, 2010, 464 pages, 978-0-451-46311-1, Trade Paperback, $16.00

Genre: Fantasy

Since finishing The Spirit Lens well over a week ago, I’ve been surprised to see next to no reviews about it on the book blogs and forums that I typically frequent. So far I’ve only encountered one, and I admit to finding the lack of attention baffling. I’ve been anticipating The Spirit Lens since I first heard about it late last year, and it was the first thing I bought in January. I went to the bookstore the day it was released and snatched it from a stocking cart while no one was looking. Admittedly, I had trouble starting it after that, which I blame entirely on the fact that I was terribly sick for the first week that I had it. I muddled through the prelude with a cloudy head, and only after I was feeling better did I allow myself to move on to chapter one.

Truly, there are no words to describe how I really feel about this book. I suppose the closest I could come would be to recreate the near unintelligible e-mail that I wrote to my friend the very second that I stopped gaping and put the book down—but not only would that be uninformative for you, it would be highly embarrassing for me. All I can tell you is that Carol Berg has successfully upended my world yet again, and as soon as I stop pouting over the need to wait another year to see what happens next in her Collegia Magica trilogy, I’ll start looking for ways to build her a shrine in my computer room.

But, in all seriousness, and despite my rather copious praise-raining (after all, we wouldn’t want to build it up too much, would we?), The Spirit Lens is an incredibly enjoyable fantasy adventure for those who love unexpected heroes, web-worked plots, magic versus technology, and librarians with a skill for investigative spying.

In lieu of my own summary, this time, I offer the back-cover synopsis:

“For Portier de Savin-Duplais, failed student of magic, sorcery’s decline into ambiguity and cheap illusion is but a culmination of life’s bitter disappointments. Reduced to tending the library at Sabria’s last collegia magica, he fights off despair with scholarship. But when the king of Sabria charges him to investigate an attempted murder that has disturbing magical resonances, Portier believes his dreams of a greater destiny might at last be fulfilled.

As the king’s new agente confide, Portier—much to his dismay—is partnered with the popinjay Ilario de Sylvae, the laughingstock of Sabria’s court. Then the need to infiltrate a magical cabal leads Portier to Dante, a brooding, brilliant young sorcerer whose heretical ideas and penchant for violence threaten to expose the investigation before it’s begun. But in an ever-shifting landscape of murders, betrayals, old secrets, and unholy sorcery, the three agentes will be forced to test the boundaries of magic, nature, and the divine.”

I’ll say it again, as I’ve said it several times before and will likely keep saying it—Carol Berg’s characters make her stories real. Yes, there are many, many reasons to love her novels: the plots, the mysteries, the settings, and the beautiful language. However, it’s the characters who offer the personal connections to all of those things and, without them, it just wouldn’t be the same. Not even a little bit.

What I enjoy, in particular, is the type of character she often chooses to tell the story. Now, I’m not necessarily a proponent of the “everyman” school of thought—I really rather enjoy stories about people who aren’t just your average joe—but in a way, I feel like Berg’s characters are just that…except that they’re not, exactly.

Read on….

Tags: book reviews, books, carol berg, collegia magica, fantasy

Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald
Pyr, 2009, 278 pages, 978-1-59102-699-0, Trade Paperback, $15.00 in my cart. Finally.

Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce
Magic Carpet Books, 2008, 438 pages, 978-0-15-205439-7, Paperback, $7.95

The Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory
How Books, 2008, 978-1-60061-086-8, Paperback, $19.99

Mainspring by Jay Lake
Tor, 2007, 358 pages, 978-0-7653-5636-9, Mass Market Paperback, $7.95

Midwinter by Matthew Sturges
Pyr, 2009, 344 pages, 978-1-59102-734-8, Trade Paperback, $15.98

Mushi-shi, vol. 1 by Yuki Urushibara
Del Rey, 2007, 978-0-345-49621-8, Paperback, $12.95

Mushi-shi, vol. 2 by Yuki Urushibara
Del Rey, 2007, 978-0-345-49644-7, Paperback, $12.95

The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente
Bantam Spectra, 2006, 978-0-553-38403-1, Trade Paperback, $14.00

Zoo by Otsuichi
Haikasoru, 2009, 978-1-4215-2587-7, Trade Paperback, $13.99

You might have noticed, but when a bookstore doesn’t have what I’m looking for, it tends to make me a little tetchy. In fact, it makes me outright rebellious. You don’t have my book? Fine. I’m going to order it from someone else.

This doesn’t happen all the time—just when I go in expecting to find a particular title but end up leaving empty-handed. If I just went in to browse, and I happened to think of a book I’d like to find, I don’t get quite so annoyed; I just shrug and put it on the list of things that I’ll have to order eventually (or, perhaps, I’ll mention it as a birthday gift. Not that anyone gives me books for my birthday. I have yet to figure out why not).

Of course, what really bugs me is that failing to find the book I want will completely kill my desire to buy anything else. Finding a replacement for the original title is near impossible, and I generally lose interest if my hunting has been thwarted (oh, and it is hunting. Bookstore-hopping is all about the hunt and the immediate acquisition. Otherwise, I’d just order everything and never be disappointed). 

Read more….

Tags: art, book get!, books, catherynne m. valente, danny gregory, fantasy, ian mcdonald, illustration, jay lake, manga, matthew sturges, mushi-shi, otsuichi, ysabeau s. wilce, yuki urushibara