Saeculum by Ursula Poznanski
I just finished reading Saeculum by Ursula Poznanski. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this book at all. I found it boring and the characters unsympathetic and the plot rather pointless. Maybe I would have felt differently at another time, but as it was, I was really disappointed. Especially since this is a big, thick book that cost a lot to buy. I’d been looking forward to reading it for a long time. Oh, well, these things happen.
I’d already read another book by the same author, Erebos, and loved it so naturally I assumed I’d like other books by her.
For someone who might like this kind of book, I’ll just briefly go into the plot.
Bastian is a medical student who has trouble relating to his manipulative father. He meets a pretty girl who gets him interested in medieval reenactments, historic fairs, that sort of thing. She talks him into coming along on a live game playing thing somewhere far from civilisation. When they get there, things start to go wrong. Is it really possible that an old curse is causing all the troubles the group is experiencing?
Unfortunately, the story never gets very exciting, at least not to me. I read the book in a Swedish translation that I really didn’t like. It made me question the translator’s qualifications. Usually, it’s the other way around, a translation can actually make a book seem better than it is. So all in all, I’d say this book was a failure from beginning to end. I don’t usually even review under these circumstances, but after reading this long book, I felt I wanted to have my say about it.
For someone else, it might still be an interesting book, but personally, I just want to forget I wasted time and money on it.
Edit: I just checked out the reviews on Goodreads and now I really wish I’d done that before I bought the book… :/
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
I just finished Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich and all I can say is that this was just as funny as most of the other books. The book starts out with a ilttle mystery. Stephanie has just returned from Hawaii where she had a little trouble – guy trouble. You don’t know exactly what’s happened until later in the book, but I’ll just say it’s not that surprising when you do find out. Just funny.
A case sort of follows her from Hawaii and from then on Stephanie is tailed by a multitude of real and not so real FBI agents. That too, gets a bit funny.
But those men are not the only ones stalking Stephanie. She has to put up with unwanted company from a number of other people, but that too, of course, leads to funny situations.
Which is basically what this series is all about. There is of course a case and some bounties to collect, but to me this series is all about the humor and it works. It’s about the only thing that can make me laugh these days and I’m really grateful for that.
So, like I usually say, this isn’t primarily a series of books for the mystery or thriller lover but for those who like the idea of a sort of mystery that is really, really funny. Or I guess, for anyone wanting to laugh.
It is quite a bit about sex too, but there’s nothing explicit so I think most people won’t have a problem with it.
Smoking Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
I just finished reading Smoking Seventeen, by Janet Evanovich, which as you can probably guess is the seventeenth book in the series about Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter.
In this book, Stephanie is helping her boss Vinnie to find out who is burying dead bodies where his bounty hunter business used to lie – it is now being rebuilt, or at least that’s the assumption.
Stephanie has a new or almost new problem to deal with too – her off and on boyfriend Joe Morelli’s grandmother has put the evil eye on her. In this case it means Stephanie is going to start smelling like cabbage, get boils all over her face and get ‘vordo’ which apparenty means becoming sexually insatiable. Unfortunately, it looks as if grandma Bella is actually successful. Stephanie does get sauerkraut in her hair when she’s with Lula getting lunch and a huge zit appears on her forehead looking a lot like a boil waiting to happen and – for whatever reason – she does experience a change in her libido.
There isn’t all that much more to add to my earlier reviews of these books. The book was funny. I love that, because I really, really need to laugh right now.
The only downside was that this one was a bit predictable. It was really easy to guess who the killer was, but since the actual criminal case isn’t all there is to a book like this, it doesn’t matter too much.
Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
These books are lifesavers. Even now when I’m not in a very good mood, most of these books can still get me in a better mood at least for a time. In fact, this might be one of my very favorites among the Stephanie Plum-mysteries. Actually, as anyone who’s read even one of these books knows, they’re a bit more comedy than mystery. Sure there’s action too, but it’s not the kind of action that has you on the edge of your seat. The reason this is probably one of my favorites is that there is a LOTR connection. I’ll just mention one word HOBBITS!
Other than that, Stephanie’s boss at the bonds office/bounty hunter headquarters, Vinnie the pervert, has been abducted, but that turns out to be just the beginning of everyone’s troubles.
Also, Stephanie has inherited a supposedly lucky red glass bottle, so that gets taken along on all assignments for a while. That’s not all there is to the bottle either but you only find that out at the very end.
Stink bombs also play a part in this book.
As most of the other books in the series, this one is full of fun, sex and action. I don’t think I’ll need to go into more about the plot because as you might know, plot is the least part of these books. Sure, it works fine, there’s nothing to complain about when it comes to the plot, but there’s so much more to the series than that.
If you need cheering up read one book or more in this series. In fact, even if you don’t, you’ll probably enjoy it anyway. I might not want to continue reading this series forever, but so far I haven’t found any reason to stop, so I’m going to read the next couple of books as well, at least.
The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
I always intended to review these two books (I’ll do them together, since it’s series), but I had a feeling I hadn’t done it yet and I was right.
So, here goes.
I love this series of books, even though I have only read the first two books so far. Hopefully, I’ll soon be able to read more.
This ‘universe’ is absolutely wonderful. I’ll just mention a few fantastic aspects of it:
Literature, books and authors are taken very seriously. There are gangs that clash because they favour two different authors, like football hooligans. The police has a special department (a huge one) that deals with literary fraud. Classic theatre is also huge – they have fan plays, played by fans who love the play and the shows run for years on end.
There’s time travel and the plots deal with time paradoxes.
Some lucky people can enter a book (the plot, not merely the physical copy) and visit or live out their lives in between the major plot points.
However, there are few things that I don’t love quite as much. For instance, there are vampires and werewolves. Not my thing at all.
The main character, Tuesday Next, is – well, to be honest, before I really got into the book, I automatically assumed she was a guy. She doesn’t come across as a female character.
Not that any of this takes away from the enjoyment of the books.
Some people find it hard to classify exactly what genre these books belong to. To some it seems to be a weird sort of mystery, others see it as fantasy or science fiction. I was a bit concerned about the style – in some cases, where books are very hyped and seem to belong to a special or different sort of genre, I have actually hated the writing – such as the Lemony Snicket series. But this, really works. Even though there’s a sort of literary or fandom-related reference in almost every sentence, it never bothers the flow of the plot. If I get it (I don’t get all of them, I think) I love them. But the plot still moves at a fast pace.
My advice is that if you think you might enjoy this type of book, try to read an excerpt on Amazon or wherever you usually buy your books. If you like the first chapter, you’ll love the rest of it too. I imagine that most book lovers would, but it’s actually quite hard to tell. Since I joined the specific book sites online, I’ve come across many people who love books as much as I do, but still love completely different genres or writing styles, so apparently there’s a huge difference between one book lover and another.
In any case, I love these books, so if you have liked my other reviews, you might enjoy this series too, that’s my best guess.
The Archon by Catherine Fisher
This is the second book in the Oracle Prophesies series by Catherine Fisher. It’s set in a world that is the same mix of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece as in the first book (The Oracle). I liked the first book so much that I wanted to read the second in the series and I haven’t regretted that decision.
However, just as I may have said in my review of the first book, I see very little of Greece in the book’s cultural setting (some names, basically). To me, it’s mainly Egypt, but there’s also a confusing goddess that seems to be more inspired by Native American or perhaps (I’m not that knowledgeable when it comes to the latter) Polynesian or African culture. Of course, that in no way ruins the enjoyment of the book.
I like the main character, Mirany, who is a priestess, enough to be able to relate to a her. The other characters are interesting too and the setting and the plot are well written. I don’t know what else to say except that I can recommend this to people who like fantasy that isn’t ‘the usual’. It’s not that different, but different enough, I suppose I should say.
Finger-Lickin’ Fifteen by Stephanie Plum
It’s been a while now since I finished Finger-Lickin Fifteen by Janet Evanovich and I thought I’d post some impressions.
I’ll start out with the blurb:
New Jersey bail-bonds office worker Lula is a witness to celebrity chef, Stanley Chipotle, losing his head, literally. Now Lula and Stephanie Plum, a bond enforcement officer, are on the hunt to identify the killers before Lula is next on the chopping block. Meantime, security expert Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger, has recruited Stephanie for a top secret mission. Someone on the inside at Rangeman is leaking client information, determined to bring the company down. Can Stephanie hunt down a killer, a traitor, and keep her Grandma out of the sauce?
Most of these books are extremely funny and distracting. This one was no exception. It may not be one of the best in the Stephanie Plum series, but it was at least good enough to keep my thoughts occupied while I read it.
I’ve had a bit of bad luck with these books lately. Twice I’ve made a mistake and bought the same book over again. Twice also, I’ve found that a book I’ve bought wasn’t quite as funny as most of the others. Still, no harm done, at least in the latter case. Like I said, they’re at least funny enough.
As far as the plot is concerned, they’re all quite similar, and they’re more humor than mystery, but that’s ok. I really enjoy reading this series and I’m glad I’ll be able to keep reading it for a while more.
If this sounds appealing, then I can really recommend this series.
Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
It’s not that long ago that I read the first book, The Masque of the Red Death. Normally I’m not into dystopic, post-apocalyptic books, but this is primarily fantasy. The world is similar to our late 19th century, early 20th century world and might actually be meant to be our world, though I’d say the differences hint at another world.
A plague is spreading, and civilisation is crumbling. There’s even talk about a new, worse contagion spreading. Between the different faction, the spread of the disease and Araby not being sure who she can trust, the situation is definitely deteriorating. Her best friend is dying, her mother is a prisoner of an evil ruler. It seems Araby’s father is somehow involved in everything that’s happened. Can things get any worse?
I found this book well written and fascinating. The characters are well developed and engaging. I found it a little hard to relate to Araby, but that didn’t matter. The story pulled me in anyway.
I would recommend this story to anyone who likes dystopic fantasy (with a little bit of steampunk thrown in, I think – actually it seems no story is actually all steampunk, it’s always just a bit, isn’t it?).
Feyland: The Twilight Kingdom
I found these books on Wattpad and read the first two titles in the series (and also a sort of prequel). Then I discovered there was a good price for all three books in print, and I got them, because generally, I like to own all my favorite books in print.
Just like the first books in the series, this one was great. Well written and fascinating. The characters felt real and they were likeable (though I do find it just a little bit annoying that Jennet is so perfect). As I’ve mentioned before I really like Marny a lot better.
The relatively dystopian future setting works well. I’m not usually a fan of the new dystopian subgenre. Just like the ‘new’ urban fantasy isn’t to my taste either. In this book, the setting works. It’s not a ‘total’ dystopy, just the sort of society we’re already seeing the first traces of, in slum areas and rural areas all over the world. There’s advanced technology, but also vast areas where people live in poverty in crumbling buildings with threatening criminal gangs taking over.
In this book, we get to see a bit more of other characters, but again, not nearly enough of Marny. I think she should have been more included in the plot and it would have been great if a love interest could have been found for her.
If you’ve read my reviews of the earlier books in the series, you already know about my feelings about this series, so I don’t have much more to add, other than that I can really recommend them to anyone who loves fantasy, but also those who like modern YA books. There may not be vampires, werewolves and zombies, but it feels ‘modern’ in the writing style and the description of characters and in this context, it’s all positive.
A storybook adventure…
Giggleswick: The Amadán Map by Matthew Mainster
It’s a natural phenomenon — a small country in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean hidden from the rest of the world by a circle of unnavigable fog. It’s called Giggleswick, and twelve-year old Elliot Bisby has never heard of it, that is until he and his family are approached by an unusual man and asked to move there.
I found this story funny and quite light-hearted, just the way I like (some) books. It’s also well written and is based on a very interesting idea. What if there could actually be a secret, ‘magical’ country hidden away somewhere in the world? Like Dinotopia…
I liked the characters. Most of them were very nice and sweet, except for the villains, of course. The only thing I didn’t really like, was what seemed to me to be a dated way of looking at women. The female lead character, a twelve-year-old girl, is depicted ok. She seems equal to the male lead character, Elliot Bisby. On the other hand, Elliot’s mom has very little life outside the house. All she seems to be good for is being pretty and kind and a good housekeeper. Maybe I’m being unfair. I suppose it’s easy to just assume that moms are great and so on, and not give them any real personality, unless you actively try to give every character some individuality.
All in all, this is an enjoyable read for anyone maybe nine and up, or for anyone who’s young at heart.
