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Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart was a birthday present from my parents. [personal profile] venta had previously lent me the first two Merlin books and bought me The Ivy Tree and I was keen to read more. So, I asked for this one from my parents (actually, both [personal profile] venta and Sarah rated Touch Not The Cat more highly, but that wasn't available from Wordery which is my parents' preferred book seller).

The story is about a new governess, Linda, an English woman who grew up in Paris, and her appointment to look after Philippe the young de Valmy heir to the much loved family mansion in the French countryside. The story mixes Linda's relationships (friendships and romantic relationships) with a growing sense of danger as she lives with the de Valmy family and their servants. The whole book has a slightly Gothic feel to it as the story goes on. The story is told entirely by Linda and that works quite well. I found her likeable, as she was prepared to take action on her own - and Philippe's behalf - and was generally rooting for her to succeed across the book. There are a few, I suppose, cliches: Linda is described as a uncommonly attractive young woman, there is a mysterious handsome and impulsive lover and Linda's most useful ally (the English housekeeper) is removed from helping her at the crucial moment. However, overall, it was fun and enjoyable and I'll be reading more of Mary Stewart.
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Will Save The Galaxy For Food is Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's third book. If you think you recognise the name, you're correct that's the Zero Punctuation guy. (For those of you who don't, he's a video game reviewer and he produces his reviews in the form of about five minutes of video - fast talking, non-work safe and usually somewhat acidic and accurate.)

I read the previous two books before getting this and they were entertaining - with good ideas and good bits - but I didn't think quite worked overall. (Jam, in particular, seemed to be all about the punchline of where it came from - which is fine for a short story, but not a book.) I think this is better - still a way from perfect - but it feels more like a book.

The theme is space opera / sci fi and the mood is dark comedy. The central character is a starship pilot and he's in trouble. Yahtzee's protagonists are always in trouble. However, in this case, the protagonist has some fields of competence and I found it rather easier to empathise with him than his predecessors (I really struggled with the central character in Jam who came across as a complete idiot). The plot, without giving too much away, is that he is piloting some passengers around the galaxy, whilst revealing the history of piloting and wars (changed since teleportation arrived), dealing with his passengers, and generally trying to stay alive.

I would - very cautiously - recommend it to anyone who has played space video games such as Elite.
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I read The Cuckoo's Calling a while back (it was an Xmas present) and now realise I haven't reviewed it yet. Its stated author is Robert Galbraith, but I think everyone now knows that this is a pseudonym used by J. K. Rowling. Overall - I really enjoyed it, I like crime novels and I found this easy to get into, enjoyable to read and I really liked that it concluded answering the questions about the crime. I also liked Strike and Robin - although I wish the latter had been given a bit more attention. I will be buying the others in the series.
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Another of my Xmas books was The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North. I'd not read any of the author's books before (she's Catherine Webb, also writing as Kate Griffin as well as Claire North) and I knew it had won the World Fantasy Award.

The book is set in the modern world and has two main elements, both of which pop up very quickly. The first is that Hope, the protagonist, is forgotten by everyone. If she leaves a room, by 30 seconds later everyone will have forgotten her. This started when she was sixteen and her parents forgot her. The other element is a social media phenomenon - Perfection. It's a way of life where those following it (on their phones) can win points and achieve perfection. The story that unfolds is a mixture of human observation, mystery and getting to the bottom of the two elements. Whilst it is not the happiest of reads, it isn't nearly as sad as I feared it might be given that Hope, through her ability of being forgotten, is very isolated from others. I enjoyed following Hope through the book and, whilst I would have liked more concrete answers to some parts of the mysteries, it mostly tied up the loose ends. Overall - cautiously recommended.
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I've been a fan of Chris Brookmyre for a long time - I don't know quite how to describe his usual style as it's sort of mystery, and geek and present day / past experiences. However, Places in the Darkness is his first, solid, future-sci-fi novel. He's pottered into the genre a bit with Pandaemonium and Bedlam (the latter is also a computer game I've never got round to playing), but this is much more "proper" sci-fi.

I really enjoyed it. I liked the main characters - Alice and Nikki were great both separately and together. I also liked the setting: the "crime-free" zone that couldn't be more corrupt. Also, the main plot (which is initially a murder mystery) is wonderfully sci-fi too. Thoroughly recommended.
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One of the books I got for Xmas was The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. I've read other books by her - specifically the first two of the Merlin trilogy (for some reason, I've either not read the third or not recorded that I did). I enjoyed those, so was interested to read this.

It's part of what Wikipedia refers to as "romantic suspense" and it turns out I liked it a lot (I'd describe it as a bit like a murder mystery, but without the actual murder). I guessed the central twist after a while, but found the way it unfolded equally interesting. I thought it was well-paced and that the plot was coherent. I enjoyed all the characters as well - Connor, Julie and Donald in particular.

I'll look out for more of her books (particularly if I don't have that Merlin book - actually, I think I borrowed the first two from [personal profile] venta, so I might get the trilogy for myself).

Chocky

Dec. 28th, 2018 04:53 pm
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For Birthday/Christmas, one of the things on Bea's list was a book. She wanted something she wouldn't normally read, a recommendation from me (she gets book recs and borrows from Dom usually). This was rather hard. I've recommended and lent her things before. I know she isn't into romantic tales and so my previous suggestions have included The Screaming Staircase and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. However, she finished neither of those. (She's also struggling with Jane Eyre which someone bought for her, but I never thought that was a good idea...)

I discussed the prospect with Dom and he suggested something decent, but that wasn't quite in the Literature Reading Lists department (I've got plenty of such things from my OU degree). So I ended up buying two books: Chocky and Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, as one Christmas present. She's now read Chocky. (Note: For anyone who doesn't know it, it's a short book published in 1968 by John "Day of the Triffids" Wyndham about a child's interaction with their imaginary friend. There was a TV series or three based on it.)

To my relief - she liked it. I'm not sure she'll necessarily read more Wyndham, or even if it's a good idea, but I was pleased to finally recommend something she found readable. I also wonder if she'll finish the other book.
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Last week I finished Too Like the Lightning: Book One of Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer. It was the author's debut novel so, needless to say I hadn't come across her before. It had received a Hugo nomination and various good reviews so I was expecting to enjoy it. Instead I was disappointed as I felt it had a number of flaws. Firstly - it introduced too many characters too quickly. I was barely keeping track of who was who, let alone finding the time to care about them. Which brings me to point two - I didn't really care about any of them by the end. Granted, the protagonist is supposed to be a git (as they tell you, themselves, repeatedly) but I felt I should have cared about someone, somewhere in it. Third up - the book turns out to be about the twenty - or maybe fifty - most important people in the world. However, it explains that they are important by constantly telling you this rather than showing them as important. And onto the fourth (mild spoilers, but I'll try not to be too specific) - the whole brothel scene. This felt very much something the author was desperate to include, but left me feeling that it ruined the careful construction of politics up to that point (although, perhaps that was intended). Finally(!) the book doesn't conclude, it stops. Yes, I know it's the first of a series, but I feel it should have been somewhat self-contained and answered at least one of the threads it began in its first couple of chapters.

Having piled on the criticism, it did have some good points. There are some nice ideas in there and one or two characters that might have promise if they weren't struggling for stage space against forty-eight or so others. I remember someone once telling me that the rule of thumb with authors is that once they've written a million words, they'll be ready to write their best work. I feel this author is still making her way through her million words and maybe I should come back in a few books' time.

Last weekend, Alistair started the rerun of The Magnificent Sven which he originally ran last year in Derbyshire. The players this time are me, Dom, Martin and Leon. I haven't seen Leon for ages - possibly twenty years - and it was really good to meet him again. I've been asked not to say anything about the game until we're done (another two sessions, probably) - but it's going well so far (and it's Warhammer, although not 40K).

This week, I'm on leave. So this means glitter tattoos. I've done two: moon and stars.



And also a dreamcatcher.



Leave also means a fair amount of FFXIV, a bit of housework, a certain amount of washing, an outing planned with Bea tomorrow and some new cooking. Or, to put it another way, I made gnocchi for the first time yesterday. I can't say that they had any artistic merit (I really couldn't get them to look like anything other than blobs, let alone like their picture), but they did taste nice - so I may try again.
lathany: (Default)
A long time ago, when I was about three months pregnant, work sent me to Vancouver. My chosen reading material for the plane were the two Bridget Jones books. Now, quite a long time later, I finally read Mad About the Boy (a birthday present). I enjoyed it, I've always liked Bridget, particularly her ability to bounce back from things and I identify with the way she feels constantly out-of-step with fashions and people. I enjoyed the story, the progression of the other characters (although I was rather sorry that both Tom and Jude had lost their other halves) and some of the story elements such as the nits. I felt that the ending was a bit too much like the ending to the previous book, but I felt better that than many other options.

A not very long time ago in a room quite close, the Star Wars campaign ended. We defeated the Emperor and his forces and had a Happy Ever After of a sort. I preferred the previous campaign, I think, but it was still good. I haven't got myself together for a new campaign yet, but I might manage it soon as all my campaigns are now over.

Krys's birthday event was in London because she was. We (Krys, Chris V, Andie, Martin, Frances and me) went to see The Play That Goes Wrong. I'm always a little apprehensive about comedy - but it turned out to be very good. It helped that the humour was conveyed through actions, script, out-of-character and scenery and in varying forms from the obvious to the more subtle. I enjoyed it and would go to other productions by the same company.

Then last weekend we (Gemma, Toby, Martin, Dom, Bea and I) started Charterstone which is a legacy board game I got for my birthday. This means it's a game where you spend the first sessions (twelve in this case) establishing things for future games (plus there seems to be some plot) - so you name characters and write on the board and everything. It turned out to be fun and we have ten more sessions to go.

I'm enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend by not doing very much - recommended.

April

Apr. 21st, 2018 01:34 pm
lathany: (Default)
It's been quite a while since I wrote reviews of anything. So, I'd better fix that.

Also, a quick mention of my Easter week off. I went to Kew with Ryan (plus cake) and to Staines for shopping with Bea (plus waffle and pizza). Both days went very well and we chose the two days with decent weather. I don't have any shopping pictures, but here's a Kew one.



Over Easter Dom, Bea and I went to see Black Panther. I enjoyed it, but wasn't quite as blown away by it as pretty much everyone I've seen reviews from. In part, because my expectations were high and in part because I didn't know the source material. Dom did know the backstory and was much more impressed with how they had dealt with a cliched and racist background without throwing it all away.

I'm reading my way through my birthday books, two down and two to go.
  • Want You Gone by Chris Brookmyre: It's a rather nice Jack story that also deals with Buzzkill and internet hacking. Worth a read, although possibly after the other Buzzkill/Jack stories (Dead Girl Walking and Black Widow).
  • Sixth Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko: The sixth, and possibly last, of the Night Watch series. I thought this was a rather sad ending to a series that started well. Also, I do wish that the author would stop bringing people back from the dead and put more effort into creating new characters. Overall, not very impressed.

There have also been a couple of games.
  • Wasteworld: This was a new roleplaying game that Martin wanted to try. It's a post-apocalyptic game in a future controlled by AIs with touches of Paranoia. I think it was an interesting background, but would like to see more before saying much about the system.
  • Earthforce: Dom ran the first session of his superheroes one-off series. This featured John, Jon, David and Georgia. I really enjoyed it, but won't say much more as others will be playing.

So, overall, April's not been a bad month, although it definitely picked up when the weather improved.
lathany: (Default)
I've read three new books over the last few weeks, so time for some reviews.

Both The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers were part of a three book set (the other one being Eagle of the Ninth). They are both set in Roman Britain and feature descendants of the hero of the Eagle of the Ninth. However, they are rather different.

The Silver Branch is set in the middle of the Roman occupation. It is when Carausius claims to be Emperor of Britain and the two protagonists are caught within the differing power struggles that occur on his death. It is an interesting story of conflict and, to some extent, betrayal of which the highlight is probably the siege towards the end. It also ties in quite closely with Eagle of the Ninth as the two characters you follow are both descendants of the hero of that earlier book. It is also similar in other ways as it is about following two close friends.

The Lantern Bearers comes at the end of the occupation and is chiefly concerned by what happens when the Romans leave and the Saxons take over. It is in a different style to the previous two as the main character is - or, perhaps, becomes - much more of a loner. It focused more on themes of loyalty and belonging and seems a much sadder book overall, for all that it has a decent ending for the hero (again a descendant of the hero of Eagle of the Ninth). Having read about it afterwards, I gather it is also supposed to be the first of the King Arthur books, but I wasn't particularly aware of that as I read it.

Overall, I enjoyed all three Sutcliff books in rather different ways.

The last new book that I read recently was The New Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko; namely the fifth in the Night Watch series. I enjoyed it, I found it very readable and thought it was a decent addition to the series.

I have also been in one roleplaying game since the start of the year. Martin ran a Dwarf Fortress game for Chris V's 40th birthday. It was an enjoyable game of dwarven politics, exploration and fighting. It also involved a very interesting use of a map. I'm hoping that there will be more.
lathany: (Default)
Among my Xmas presents were a trilogy of Rosemary Sutcliff books from [personal profile] venta and a Garth Nix book from my parents. I've now read the first of the trilogy and the Garth Nix book.

Eagle of the Ninth is a children's book set in Roman Britain (apparently Hollywood made a film of it in 2011 called The Eagle). It's about a Roman officer (Marcus), his friendships and his keenness to discover the fate of his father's Legion. I really liked it, wished I'd met it when I was a child and thought that the chase in the last part of the book was probably the basis for pursuits a number of other stories (Eagle of the Ninth was published in the 1950s). I'm looking forward to reading the other two parts of the trilogy.

I then read another children's story - Goldenhand which is the fifth book set in the Old Kingdom fantasy series. I'm very fond of the Old Kingdom stories and this was a solid enough addition. However, it seemed a little too concerned with romantically attaching all the unattached protagonists of previous books to the extent that the main plot felt rather secondary. I have always liked Sabriel and thought it the best of the Old Kingdom simply because it does a very original back-ground/set-up so nicely, but this was a nice, comfortable read and I hope for more.
lathany: (Default)
Dom's 100 Secrets campaign ended last night, with champagne brought by Andie. It started on Saturday 17th August 2013, so has been going for slightly more than four years. There were three seasons in total and five players - although not always the same people at the same time. The first season was myself, Andie, Sarah and Jon. The second swapped Sarah for Krys. The first half of the third included all five players and then Jon retired and we were back to four for the last half-season. It was a very good fantasy game which was set after Monde and before the original Swordsmaster game in the same universe. Turns out that my character was a teacher of Arilzean the Cold, which is rather cool. In terms of our actual party; Rose became queen, Loy was acknowledged and now heads both family and the Guild of Cartographers, Carlos and Aeryn both now run cities on the eastern continent. The characters all did pretty well for themselves. It's also the first campaign that Dom has run to its original planned length for over a decade - so that's pretty good too.

I've watched the first tv season of American Gods and that prompted me to read the book. I think I prefer the book overall (not least because it ends and includes the follow-up novella Monarch of the Glen). It's a lovely piece of work with decent characters and a nice scattering of gods. Also, Shadow makes a sympathetic protagonist, for all that he starts off in prison for a crime he did commit.

Finally, last week was my second first week of my new job. I'm going to cautiously say it's going OK, but I'm finding these early days very tiring.
lathany: (Default)
A fortnight ago, 100 Secrets ran. We had just finished playing with the time travel so were effectively back at the start of the previous session. We travelled back to the capital to collect Rat and then had another go at figuring out the temples and what to do with them.

This time around we found a new temple, complete with guard mole with a rune tablet in its head. We gained Faradine Coldass as a companion, the first of the previous party. We also located and conversed with the nomads, finally speaking with the Master of Guides on the mountain. This encounter was interrupted by a Ryne assassin who we killed. We discovered that the temples were stores to fight a powerful being from another world which was some distance away trapped in a mind maze. If it ever escaped again, the temples would be needed.

Finally, we were helped by the nomads to visit the inside of the mountain and speak with the gods. We eventually succeeded, although not until after we had explored, seen the staircase and the gods' puppet-workings. We made contact by prayer. The gods agreed to give us the power to shut down the temples so they could not be used for a power-grab.

The last Lockwood & Co book, Lockwood & Co: The Empty Grave has finally come out. It's the fifth of the series and marks the end. I liked it and felt it wrapped up several plot lines, but there are still unanswered questions. Also, I didn't like it quite as much as the previous books.

I also ran some Lockwood & Co. The players' agency - Dalton and Clay - took on two cases, the ghost of a recent murder victim and then a dark spectre (formerly a newsreader). The background works well on a case by case basis.
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It's been a while since I posted and the weather seems to be much more autumny. I'm now back at work and I've got an interview next week for which I need to prepare a ten minute presentation.

Over the last few weeks I've read a couple of books.
  • Storm House by Mark Hibbett - This started strongly, but I was less impressed by the end. It was interesting and imaginative, but he was a little too inclined to pack everyone he'd ever mentioned together with a series of coincidences and then was running several different concepts at once. It was fast paced and I greatly preferred it to books where little happens, but it could have done with a bit of editing and polish.
  • Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies by J K Rowling - This was as expected; nice, comfortable, short backgroundy pieces from the Potter world.

We've seen three films, and the last is our last Lovefilms one as the service is shutting down (the like of Netflix means the demand isn't there any more).
  • X-Men Apocalypse. - This was one of those films where you know roughly what you're getting. Overal it was fine, but sadly, more interested in back-stories than adding any depth the villain of the piece.
  • Deadpool - Sarcastic, fun and a bit grim in places. Ryan Reynolds is good in the title role and the fourth wall breaking is good.
  • Jason Bourne - I'm not sure that the plot hung together, but it's a solid and undemanding action piece.
  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Awesome CGI and decent casting, particularly Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston and Ezra Miller. Gently watchable.

I've also been playing Steamworld Heist and Secret World Legends, but neither is finished yet.
lathany: (Default)
Last Saturday, in 100 Secrets we waged war on the Half Lords. We teamed up with the Count of Narthal and his consort Tabitha after discovering we had a common enemy. We divided into three teams - the Count and consort (Team A), the usual duo of Lady Rose (Andie) and Loy (Sarah) (Team B), plus the Tiger God (Krys) and the non-combatants - Neddra (myself) and Carlos (Jon) (Team C). We headed up the staircase and began. We managed to take out five Half Lords:
  • Team A think they killed one. Probably. We think there was fire magic involved.
  • One was assassinated by Team B through a combination of displacement and stabbiness.
  • Team C took one out, despite its Shadow Knight entourage, through wind magic, rearranging the walls and general clawing.
  • Team C took another one out despite the pitch darkness and the knight through more clawing.
  • The last, the leader, was taken out mainly by Rose with a bit of consort and Tiger God assistance.
We celebrated. We also learned what we could from their library of portals about the Midnight Roads (and hopefully, in future, of runes).

Afterwards we went back to Sarenland and discovered that the Half Lord allies had fled other than Owlsroost. He was ill and, despite an attempt to save him, he died. Whether he might have become another Cloam, we do not know. Aeryn took a message to Ein in Aeros to inform her. Also, we discovered the portal to a lonely hut and captured the Half-Knight there. It seems to be the end of the Half Lords plot.

On the trains, I read Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper. This is a tale of the European colonisation of Massachusetts from the Indians' point of view. Unfortunately, whilst well-written, there isn't really anything else going on. I feel I want to repeat my comments about Bujold's book of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen - the author could have written a story using the colonisation as a background. She didn't and I'm disappointed.

Dom and I watched Phoenix on Friday night, our latest Lovefilms offering. It's a German film set at the end of World War II about a cabaret singer who has survived the concentration camps, but her face has been ruined and she requires reconstruction surgery. She stands to inherit the family's wealth as all the others were killed. It is fairly short (about an hour and a half), but tells the simple - but very watchable - story in that time. Gently recommended.
lathany: (Default)
I went back to Belfast on Monday, this time for two days of work and staying overnight near Stormont. The trip went reasonably well and we had a good meal together on the Monday night. However it was also two long days and I was glad to be home.

On Thursday it was my birthday. [livejournal.com profile] bateleur had bought me lots of bags of dice, a new book, a music CD and Codenames (a game - not quite a boardgame, more like Fluxx). Bea bought me some chocolate bars. So far, I've eaten chocolate, but the rest will probably come on holiday with me.

I read The Last Watch, the fourth of The Night Watch series by Sergey Lukyanenko on the train this week. I liked it a lot, not least because some of it was in Scotland and involved Merlin. There were also callbacks to earlier books; it's turning into a rather nice series.

Last night we watched Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. It had some lovely action sequences, which made up for the plot being rather inconsistent, but had a definite "lack of women" thing going on. Although, frankly, that's been true of all but the first one. However this one was particularly jarring because Cruise is clearly getting older, but the age of the series' female role isn't rising in the same way.
lathany: (Dice)
I recently finished The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. It's an interesting book with quite a lot of maths/physics background (the three-body problem) and a decent sci-fi plot. I didn't like the ending very much - it felt a bit unfinished - but probably only to me.

Outside the front garden has some small yellow flowers in bloom. Out the back is this.



I think it's the first year that the garden has been clear enough for me to see these.

100 Secrets ran last weekend - the start of season 3 and a five-person party for the first time. We are all off to Sarenland to find out who is in charge and, in Neddra's case, to investigate portals. So far, we've found a population that has been lied to. And possibly a prince.

I finished Warhammer 40K season 2 yesterday. This involved a war beginning on Alanius Eyrie between the Tyranids and the forces of Tzeentch. Oh, and the humans. However, the parties managed to save the planet from destruction in time for the Saint to arrive to protect it.

I've started an Illuminati character in The Secret World. To date I've reached level 2, completed Into Darkness and seen the bad necklace competition (below).



We've finally got around to watching The Killing 3. Perhaps the best of the three in terms of plot, but also by far the most depressing. Also, I gather, deliberately the last.
lathany: (Reading)
I didn't have high hopes for Kick-Ass 2 as I'd seen the low ratings that it had received from audiences and critics alike. However, it turned out to be better than expected. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloƫ Grace Moretz continue to be good as Kick-Ass/Dave and Hit Girl/Mindy. The plot continues to be a bit random and violent, but still watchable.

As for Dresden, I read the final two published books (Cold Days and Skin Game). I started the series in 2011 after a recommendation from [livejournal.com profile] al_fruitbat and [livejournal.com profile] _alanna and the warning that it was somewhat sexist. I've become hooked ever since and I've usually asked for a Dresden each birthday and Xmas. I think my favourite is still Summer Knight, but they're all pretty good and very addictive. The most recent two are pretty solid additions and I particularly liked the last one for the twist towards the end. Apparently he's writing a sixteenth (Peace Talks) but it won't be out for some time.
lathany: (Reading)
Last week I finished The Bone Queen by Alison Croggon on the train. It's a prequel to her four book Pellinor series about an event that happened prior to then that had an impact on the story.

It was good to revisit Pellinor which I liked as a setting. I felt that The Bone Queen had decent characters and was well written. However, the plot was fairly standard and the ways in which events unfolded seemed to be about powers rather than anything particularly clever. However, well worth reading (along with the rest of the series) if you like fantasy.

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