Godslayer - Jacqueline Carey

Sequel to the Banewreaker.

ISBN: 978-0765350985
format: Paperback
pages: 416
publisher: Tor Fantasy
pub. date: 2006-06-27
started reading: 2009-03-28
finished reading: 2009-03-29

This concludes Carey's short forary into a Tolkien-esque work. More so than even the first book, the too obvious elements from The Lord Of The Rings becomes almost burdensome at times and I found myself skim reading sections with the thought of 'Oh yes... and this is where Frodo... er... Dani... must made a decision and... '. It is sad that a writer as gifted as Carey couldn't develop more originality in this story.

However, unlike Tolkien's work which was designed to be strictly a strugle of good vs. evil, Carey retells the classic battle... but from a multitude of shades of grey. The reader is drawn into understanding that the 'bad' people in the story were made that way as much by the choices of those who would profess to be good, as by their own hand.

Carey also begins to explore the idea that the counterbalance is needed in the world and that for all things to flow in order, with no chaos, is to lead to stagnation and eventually... death. It is the battle of wills, the cycle and flow of death and rebirth, that gives life its meaning.

So... if you're looking for a deep and unique tale... I would advise you look elsewhere. If you are looking for a well written retelling of a set of archtypes that adds more depth to the classic versions, this is a good read for you.

Banewreaker - Jacqueline Carey

A battle about a wounded god, the multi-race forces aligned against him, and his own allies struggle against prophecy.

ISBN: 978-0765344298
format: Paperback
pages: 512
publisher: Tor Fantasy
pub. date: 2005-08-02
started reading: 2009-03-19
finished reading: 2009-03-27

Carey should have stuck to the Kushiel series. That series is one of my favourties, whereas this book is a retelling of the Lord Of The Rings. And while it is arguable that Carey is in someways a more enjoyable writer, even her deep and wonderful character development from the Kushiel series is only softly mirrored in this book where the characters seem at times almost too contrived.

I can only hope that this is a piece of writing that she did before Kushiel and that made its way to publication after she achieved some degree of success.

It's good enough to be enjoyable as a light read, but certainly not what I would expect.

The End Of The Alphabet - CS Richardson

Looking for a quick read, and a moralistic story, this title jumped off the shelf at me.

ISBN: 978-0385663410
format: Paperback
pages: 160
publisher: Anchor Canada
pub. date: 2008-01-08
started reading: 2009-02-27
finished reading: 2009-03-05

I enjoyed this book, though it didn't live up fully to my expectations. That said, given the awards it had won, my expectations were set abnomally high.
This is another first time author. Looking back through my recent month's reading and I have to admit that first time writers seem to be well worth it lately. Whether more people are writing, or there are better editors, I know that the books I've read by people new to the field are some of the best I have come across yet. Fantastic!

This book is writting in a different sort of style and occassionally it becomes hard to follow. Not in the same way that Blindness was hard, but rather in the way that you can lose yourself listening so someone else describe a conversation they had with someone. You know how it goes...

So I said to him How are you, and he said Good, so I said That's great and your wife. Who? Your wife, is she good. It's been a while. Yes it has. She is good then? Yes, though sometimes I wonder about her. It's hard. Who? My wife.

Odds are good that as I dropped the descriptions of who was talking you had to work to puzzle it out occassionally. Expect to do that a lot in this book.

The book is however well written and touching at points as it chronicles the dying days of a 50 year old man given a life sentence with illness and his wife who accompanies him on his last expedition to see the places that held value for him in his life. Though that makes it sound like the protagonist of the book is the 50 year old Ambrose, I felt in the end, that it is his wife - named Zipper - who is the real hero of the novel.

Though I found the book dragged a bit in the middle, it is a short read and most people could read it in a solid afternoon or over the course of a few days on the subway commute to work.