Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Fantasy Remedy

It's been some tough times out there for fantasy readers - or at least for this one. I can't really seem to find any authors out there that I like besides my usual. Sure, I've tried some other books, but I can't really get into that earnest, Celtic-esque fantasy stuff. I'm tired of the usual fantasy stereotypes - as I'm sure many fantasy readers are. Fortunately, I have found the remedy!

The remedy is a read through the delightful little book: The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land by Diana Wynne Jones. This is a must-read for anyone who is tired of the usual fantasy stereotypes and is looking for a little fun with their fantasy. The Guide is just that - a guide of the usual fantasy subjects. The reader takes on the persona of a tourist who is undertaking a guided tour through fantasy. This little book is the guide. You are provided with a map and a helpful set of definitions of the various people (Minions of the Dark Lord) and places (Citadels) you might encounter in Fantasy Land, what you might eat (Stew), what you might wear (Boots), and what you might do for fun (Fights) (Scurvy) (Incident).

Now, I'm not always one for humour in my fantasy, but Wynne Jones very nicely deflates some of the pomposity surrounding the usual fantasy tropes with her definitions. In short, she really "takes the piss" out of some of the tired traditions of fantasy novels. The definitions are quite clever and the book is very interesting to flip through. At times, her references to Management (who is running your tour of Fantasy Land) put in mind of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next universe and I couldn't help but think of tours running in the behind-the-scenes of some of my favourite fantasy novels, and some of the classics (like Lord of the Rings).

It is clear that Wynne Jones loves fantasy, and loves to poke fun at it. What kind of genre is it that can't poke fun at itself? This is a good browse for those of you who are tired of fantasy and for those of us who love it despite itself.



Monday, May 30, 2011

Summer Hours

Hello faithful readers! You've probably been wondering where your faithful blogger went. In a word - outside! It's finally nice enough that I can get outside and garden. Combine that with a career change where I no longer work from home, and I seem to be spending less time in front of the computer.

I still am reading a lot, however. But my reading location has changed, as most of it is now on the train to work. As a result, I'm digging out some old paperbacks I haven't read for years and some childhood favourites. I'm also trying to read my top 10 list books, some new favourites, some books that have been on the shelf for a little while, and some library finds. I'm still reading! I'm just finding it a little more difficult to get the results out to you.

So, like the libraries in my fair city, I have decided to begin summer hours. (The libraries in my area are closed Sundays from May long weekend until September. Not everyone has Saturdays off, you know!) I will post once a week, minimum. (And no, this update does not count as a post!) I'm still interested in your ideas and opinions, and I hope that you're still interested in the books I'm reading, but while it's nice out, we should all be outside. Enjoy your summer!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Fantasy Update

I do completely read books, honest! And I've read a number of great ones lately (and am currently reading one I'm super excited about) but I feel that it's important to tell you about the ones that don't work out too. It keeps me honest and maybe down the line it will help me figure out the books I do really like to read.

The latest incomplete book is A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Yes, I know - A Game of Thrones! Didn't I just recently defend this book in a vitriolic blog post? Didn't I express my excitement and longing to read it? I did do all those things. And then I read the book.

Or, to be fair, read probably about only the first fifth of the book. I love fantasy; I really do. (I just finished reading Mercedes Lackey's The Snow Queen and a hilarious one by Diana Wynne Jones that I am going to talk about soon.) But I did not love this fantasy.

It is vaguely Tolkein-esque: there's a map and at least part of the world seems vaguely Celtic or Western European. Martin writes from the viewpoint of several different characters. The reader gets a brief snippet of an important event before the chapter ends and we move on to the next character's point of view. I didn't enjoy the rapid changes between characters. Maybe it's supposed to keep the book moving: I just felt it held it back. There's a way to change viewpoints between characters, and I felt this was not it. Sharon Kay Penman does it very well: there's one main character, a number of minor characters, and then very inconsequential characters whom we just meet at the beginning of a chapter. They're sketched out quickly, they help you understand where the story's going and tell you about events the main character could never know about without being totally historically inaccurate. Then they disappear. I found Martin's way somewhat jarring. You never really got to settle inside a character.

I did see how Martin reads like Tolkein but with less depth. His characters are more like characters than beings in a narrative myth-arc. The problem is that you never really get to settle in with a character as you are always being wrenched off into another character. I would have settled with a few less major characters. Or maybe more of an omniscient narrative as opposed to a story with multiple third-person narratives.

I read the synopsis of A Game of Thrones on Wikipedia and the book sounded great! Too bad that I couldn't get into it and that the conspiracy/plot took so long to develop. I had understood that A Game of Thrones was about a conspiracy for a kingdom and I didn't get that so much from the beginning. Maybe a little glimpse of one, but I wanted to be right in the room with the conspirators.

Further, the background was too complex. I do read a lot of history/non-fiction and I can keep track of sprawling royal families, but for some reason the vast networks of kinships in A Game of Thrones seemed to be too much. Everyone seemed to be referring to some earlier cataclysmic event that the reader was not privy to. Why not start the story there? And why have so many different houses and characters that a multi-page appendix is needed to describe who these people are and to whom they are related.

A note to the New York Times writer regarding the sex scenes that were placed in the show (from the book) in order to "entice the ladies". Well, this lady remains un-enticed. First, incest. (Gross!) And then an older greasy barbarian gets to sleep with the lovely young highborn maiden who is beautiful and the heiress to some long-lost kingdom, naturally. I'm not sure whose fantasy this is, but it isn't mine!

And, finally, for those of you who have read the book, the part with Sansa's direwolf was too much. Yes, make us love an animal right before you take it away so cruelly. (I was trying to avoid spoilers for those who have read the book, but that may have given it all away.) I'm sure that event leads to great repercussions further on, but I was not interested in sticking around to find out.

So, another one bites the dust. Maybe I'll skip over the part I really disliked and try reading it again later. But probably not. Life is short, and there are books I'd much rather read. Like One of Our Thursdays is Missing, the latest book in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. I'm just about to start Chapter 14 and it is fabulous!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Queen of Egypt

One of the 2010 popular non-fiction books that I was really excited to read was Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff. I have just finished the book, and it indeed lived up to my expectations.

This book, obviously, is about Cleopatra. She was the last Pharaoh of Egypt before it became a province (or a part of, somehow) the Roman Empire. We all know about Cleopatra, right? The oversexed, manipulating seductress who was the lover of most of the men in the ancient world. She had 8 husbands, right? Or was that Liz Taylor? This book takes all of those misconceptions and, in retelling the story of Cleopatra's life, explains how our perception of her has been shaped by who wrote the history.

Of course, who wrote the history would be men. And not just any men, Roman men. They had no reason to like Cleopatra and a strong, intelligent woman would be anathema to them. Schiff has to fight through centuries of prejudicial interpretations of Cleopatra's life based upon antagonistic sources. Schiff does an excellent job of peeling back the layers of misogyny and showing us what Cleopatra may have been like.

Sources are a problem for this time period - there are not very many of them and they don't always agree on the facts, can be biased, and can be entirely untruthful as well. But Schiff perserveres and shows the reader what Cleopatra could have been like - indeed, what she should have been like, had we the proper sources and knowledge.

The test of a good non-fiction book is to be sad and slightly exhausted at the end. Sad because the book is over, exhausted by the journey you just took. You take that kind of journey here in Cleopatra. I really felt I had a better understanding of the Egyptian Queen and her place in the Ancient World. Schiff touches on her great romances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, as well as her children and family life. But Schiff also looks at Cleopatra as Queen and ruler - at the decisions she had to make, and the success she made of her reign. Schiff made ancient Alexandria come vibrantly alive - it's a place I would like to visit, if they ever invent time travel. (Actually, that's true for Egypt in general - it's really Ancient Egypt I want to visit.)

This is an excellent non-fiction book. I recommend it to any readers who want to learn more about Cleopatra and the drama of the ancient world. I thoroughly enjoyed every page of the book. Cleopatra did not come alive, exactly, in these pages (the sources are too limited and the distance in time too far), but I gained a better understanding of her and her life.

Two points to wrap up with: first, Hollywood has already optioned the book for a movie. Angelina Jolie will be playing the title role. It will be interesting to see if it ends up good, or very bad. Secondly, I would like to point out that Schiff thanks the Rutherford Library at the University of Alberta in her acknowledgements at the back. Thank you, Rutherford Library, for helping make this great book possible! Yay!


Sunday, May 15, 2011

Fantastical Swords

I think I may have mentioned today's featured book on this blog before, but I don't think I've given it a starring role. If I have, let me know! Today's great read is The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley.

Now, we all know that McKinley is one of my favourite fantasy authors. It has to be her great characters and storytelling ability. You identify with and are interested in her characters. You want to know what happens to them. You are pulled in to their story.

The story of The Blue Sword is a sort-of sequel to The Hero and the Crown. I say sequel because the book occurs in the same land and among the same people as The Hero and the Crown. Indeed, Aerin (the heroine of The Hero and the Crown) makes an appearance in this book. I say sort-of because the book takes place many years after Aerin's adventures.

The book begins with Harry Crewe's (short for Angharad) arrival in Daria at the fort where her brother is stationed with the army. Harry's father has just died and she is now an orphan. She has nowhere to go except to be with her brother and the lead diplomat, Sir Charles, of the new Homelander colony of Daria, is kind enough to take her in. Harry does not miss Home, and comes to love the harsh, desert-like surroundings of her new home.

However, there is trouble in Daria. The people of the North are trying to push over the hills and into the province. The original inhabitants of Daria, the Hillfolk, are trying to push them back with all their might, both magical and military. Their King, Corlath, comes to the fort to ask for the army's assistance. He is refused, but sees Harry. There is magic afoot, and Corlath knows that Harry is the key to something bigger. Harry must come live with the Hillfolk and learn their ways. Her presence is essential to halting the North.

I really love this book. I love the quiet stubbornness of Harry and her practical realism. I love the intertwining of magic with colonialism: Harry's homeland of Home sounds nothing more like Victorian England, and Daria as one of it's colonies. Yet the people of these colonies have magic, and ride fabulous horses, and live in tents. I enjoy Harry's journey. Everything is new to her and so we experience it for the first time too. It is neat to check back in with the people of Daria and see what changes have happened since Aerin's time, and hear the myths that have grown up about the events that occurred in The Hero and the Crown.

This is a great fantasy read for anyone who loves horses, swordplay, the desert, and magic. Further, it is just a great story. That is what pulls me into a novel is the great story. This story happens to be fantasy, but it is a great story nonetheless. I highly recommend this book - it is very enjoyable and an excellent read.


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Austen or Aston

I was inspired by reading all my Jane Austen books to read an author who writes sequels to the Austen books - specifically, sequels loosely based on the characters in Pride and Prejudice. This author is Elizabeth Aston. She is smart, however. Instead of writing books based on the characters from Pride and Prejudice, she moves down one generation, and began writing about Elizabeth and Darcy's daughters. I think this is wise. Elizabeth and Darcy have already had such a perfect story that I don't think any other author could do them justice.

I began reading Aston's books with her story Mr. Darcy's Daughters, about the 5 daughters of Elizabeth and Darcy and the mischief they get up to while searching for husbands. The next book in the series is The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy, about the youngest of the 5 Darcy daughters. After finishing the tales of Darcy's daughters, Aston turns to other members of the family. She writes about Cassandra Darcy, daughter of Anne de Bourgh, in The True Darcy Spirit. The next book features no Darcys at all, but Collinses: Aston features Charlotte and Eliza Collins, the daughters of Mr. Collins and the former Charlotte Lucas, in The Darcy Connection. Aston rounds off her series with The Second Mrs Darcy, a book about Octavia Darcy, widow of a cousin of the Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice.

I have read all these Aston novels and enjoyed them. In the realm of Austen sequelists, her works are pretty good - and that's saying a lot as there are some pretty bad ones out there. I had thought the series ended with The Second Mrs Darcy, but realized recently that a new Darcy-related book had come out - Mr. Darcy's Dream. I ordered it from the library and read it.

Mr. Darcy's Dream is about Phoebe Hawkins, the daughter of Georgiana Darcy and a Sir Giles Hawkins. Phoebe is disappointed in love, as her father refused his consent to an engagement with the young man that Phoebe loves. Phoebe later finds out that the young man is apparently still consorting with the actress she thought he had given up, and her heart is shattered. She refuses to participate in the London season. Wanting to cheer up their daughter, Georgiana and Giles send Phoebe to Pemberley with the summer along with her cousin, Louisa Bingley. Stunningly beautiful as well as kind and warm-hearted, Louisa Bingley has undergone 3 London seasons without an offer. She is tired of the social life and would welcome a quiet summer at Pemberley with her cousin. Of course, the girls do not get the quiet time they are looking for as they get sucked into the local dramas of the residents around Pemberley and as both Phoebe and Louisa must contend with affairs of the heart.

Mr. Darcy's Dream is good, light-hearted fun. By choosing characters that aren't exactly in the Austen novels, Aston is free to do with her characters what she wishes, while still staying true to Austen's original ideas and feelings. Aston does pretty well too - the writing's appropriate for the period but still modern. Mr. Darcy's Dream is perhaps a little more light-weight than some of the other contenders in Aston's Darcy universe, but it is a nice light read. (My favourites are the two about Darcy's daughters - good fun!) I do enjoy how all the novels are set within the Darcy extended clan of cousins and in-laws, so the reader gets updates on what happened to favourite characters from other books.

If you want one opinion on what happened to Elizabeth and Darcy after Pride and Prejudice, try an Elizabeth Aston book. They are generally good reads. Of course, nothing can be as sparkling or witty as the original, but Aston writes well and the books are enjoyable and are moderately true to the time, unlike some other Austen sequelists I have read. I am looking forward to the next book about the extended Darcy clan.



Wednesday, May 4, 2011

All About Austen

Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors. Her delightful Regency novels have inspired a whole genre of modern-day writers who write Regency Romance. The talented Miss Austen only wrote 6 books, and I thought I would reread them all to see if I could determine my favourite. Below, then, is my list of Austen novels, from least favourite to most. (And, yes, I know Austen left an unfinished novel, The Watsons, which I have not included on my list.)

#6: Northanger Abbey
This is my least favourite of Austen's books. It's one of her earliest works, and while other early books were reworked, Northanger Abbey was not and I think it shows. It's Austen, so it's still better than a lot of books out there, but it's not my favourite and is really only in my collection for the sake of completeness.

I see where Austen was going with the parody of the Gothic novel, but a lot of the humour is really time-specific. And Catherine Norland is not Austen's most memorable heroine. She did grow on me a little by the end, but at times she's as annoying and silly as Lydia from Pride and Prejudice! However, it's interesting to read to compare with the later Austens and see how her talent developed. The talent is there - it just needs some refining.

#5: Mansfield Park
I think of this book as "What happened to Lydia at the end of Pride and Prejudice". The situation in which Fanny Price's mother finds herself in the novel is how I think Lydia ended up after Pride and Prejudice. I don't hate this book - but it's just not as good as Austen's other works.

Perhaps part of that is heroine: Fanny Price. Poor little meek, quiet, put-upon, shy Fanny Price. She is overlooked by everyone and treated as the poor cousin by her whole family. She does not have Emma's strong will nor Elizabeth's sparkling wit. She's also a bit of a prude. (By today's standards.) Further, a lot of the characters surrounding Fanny are more interesting, such as Mary Crawford and Fanny's cousins Maria and Julia.

That said, the book is still an interesting read and tackles some darker subjects than other Austen books - slavery hovers around the edge, divorce, elopement, playacting. It is a reflection of the times, and I am happy at the end for the happy ending of Fanny Price and rejoice in the downfall of evil Aunt Norris. Aunt Norris has to be one of the most reprehensible characters that Austen has ever created. If you like a quiet, moral heroine, then Mansfield Park is the book for you.

#4: Emma
Yes, Emma comes in at #4. Yes, sacrilege, I know! I don't hate Emma, it's just that there are other books that I like better. The problem is Emma herself. She is so perfect that she is almost insufferable. She has wealth, beauty, and independence. She is the Queen Bee of her little world, and she knows it! However, Emma does realize her blind spots by the end of the novel, and everything wraps up satisfactorily.

One of Jane Austen's strengths is that she creates stories so excellently. Her novels always take place in the middle of a story, not the end. There are certain events that happened to create the situation in Emma, and the reader is left wondering what will happen at the end of the story. The story in Emma is about Emma Woodhouse, but it's intertwined with the story of poor Jane Fairfax, silly Harriet Smith, and the wayward Frank Churchill. I am drawn to Jane's story and would be interested in a companion book to Emma (written by a modern author) called Jane about the story of Jane Fairfax. I would love to hear the events of Emma from her point of view.

One final thing about Emma - the movie Clueless is loosely based on it. Clueless is one of my most favourite movies of all time. So, now, when I read Emma, I keep picturing the scenes from Clueless in my head!

#3 Sense and Sensibility
This is the first Jane Austen book that I read, and it still has a special place in my heart. Austen does an excellent job here of contrasting Elinor's sense with Marianne's sensibility - and showing that Elinor feels just as strongly as Marianne, but is better able to conceal her feelings.

I love the sisterly bond that Austen creates here - which is unique in all her books. Emma doesn't seem to have a close relationship with her sister, Elizabeth is close only to Jane (the rest are too silly), Fanny Price is separated from her sister, Catherine Norland's sisters don't really factor into the story, and Anne's sisters are terrible people! Of course, this kind of leaves out Margaret - but she is so much younger that she doesn't really factor into the story at all.

Again, the real story seems to have happened before Sense and Sensibility started with the events in Colonel Brandon's life. I would like to read more about his early life - but by a competent author! So far, I haven't read anything from an author based on Sense and Sensibility that is any good.

This is a good book. I love the sweeping romanticism of Marianne and the events with Willoughby. (Did Austen have a problem with a man whose name began with "W"?) And I love Elinor's strong feelings that she tries to hide behind a facade of good sense to be strong for her mother and sister. Fanny Dashwood joins Aunt Norris in the pantheon of Austen's great villians. And, of course, everything comes right in the end.

Also, the movie adaptation with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman is amazing. Go watch it right now.

#1: Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion
Yes, I have a tie at first place. Don't make me choose! I love both these books equally, and could not pick a single winner. Pride and Prejudice is a perfect novel. The characters, dialogue, plot - all are perfect. But Persuasion and the character of Anne Elliot have my heart.

First, then, Pride and Prejudice. This book is perfect. (Plus, isn't my lovely little copy divine!) The epic romance of Elizabeth and Darcy is one for the ages - their sparkling dialogue and wit makes me wish we talked like that nowadays. Sweet Jane, friendly Bingley, silly Lydia, and hateful Caroline Bingley are just a few of the memorable characters from this best known and best loved of Austen's novels. I can't say anything more than go read this book. It is a perfect English novel. I reread it quite often and notice new things each time. It is a charm and a delight.

The BBC adaptation with Jennifer Ehle and (swoon) Colin Firth is the THE definitive adaptation. Do not watch any others. Mmmm....Colin Firth swimming in the pond....

Sorry, drifted out there for a moment! The only problem with that BBC adaptation is that I've seen it so many times that I picture the actors from it when I'm reading the book. I suppose that's not really a bad thing...

Finally, Pride and Prejudice has what has to be one of the greatest opening lines in literature: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

And, finally, Persuasion. I know this book is not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. I love the character of Anne Elliot. Anne is gentle and quiet, easily persuaded because she doesn't have the power to cross the wants of other people. Elizabeth Bennet is someone I'd want to have in my circle of friends for her wit and generous heart. But Anne Elliot would be my best friend with her gentle good sense and loyalty.

Anne Elliot is a lovely girl who is surrounded by a silly and selfish father and sister. Parted from her great love by a well-intentioned mother-figure friend, she has not found another. I like that Anne is a little older than Austen's other heroines and that the book is more about love renewed, than first love. It is a quieter book than Pride and Prejudice - autumn to its spring. But the love story in it is just as passionate as that of Elizabeth and Darcy - more so, maybe for the years separating the characters. The final climatic scene with the exchange of letters is tense and exciting - and it's just an exchange of letters! It is just another example of Austen's terrific writing style.

I value Pride and Prejudice as a witty acquaintance who makes me smile. I love Persuasion as a gentle friend who tells me her heart.

So, there you have it, faithful readers, my favourite Austens. What's your ranking? Disagree? Agree? Is Colin Firth the best Darcy of all time? Is that just a silly question? Debate in the comments below!